Talk:Leaders of the Conservative Party

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[edit] Exact dates

Some of the dates for various leaders seem a little off and need clarifying. As this is devilishly detailed I'm starting discussion here and ask that anyone changing the dates gives their reasoning on this page and not just in the edit summary. Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Baldwin, Chamberlain, Eden and Macmillan

All four "kissed hands" to become PM before being formally elected leader at a party meeting. It is probable that not all these meetings were held on the same day as the visit to the Palace (particularly Baldwin and Macmillan, whose predecessors were suddenly taken ill). I'd date the start of their tenures to the meetings, but this also leaves the question as to whether their predecessors' tenure ran right up to the meeting itself. Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Law and Douglas-Home

By contrast both deferred formally accepting the premiership until after a party meeting had elected them leader, due to the complicated political situations at the time. It's possible one or both went straight from the meeting to the Palace but again this will need checking. Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Neville Chamberlain-Winston Churchill

This was very different from other circumstances. In May 1940 it was agreed that Chamberlain would retain the party leadership. Chamberlain fell ill later that year and stood down from both the leadership and government and Churchill was formally elected at a party meeting on October 9th. I'm not sure if Chamberlain was nominally in post until then or if the post was vacant for a few days - in practice his illness meant it made no difference. Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Major

Three points:

[edit] 1990

I'm not 100% sure of the exact date Major became leader. The second ballot of the leadership contest was the night before he became PM and formally ended with a third ballot required. Heseltine and Hurd both withdrew on the night but exactly when the Chairman of the 1922 Committee formally declared Major elected is one of those details that no-one bothered to report at the time - was it on the night? The next day when the Palace witnessed the Changing of the Prime Ministers? Or even the day after when the next ballot was scheduled for? Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 1995

Then it's not entirely clear whether or not Major was leader between June 22 (when he announced his resignation to trigger a leadership election) and July 4 (when the result was declared). I have seen people writing both at the time and since about Major not being party leader the period but others assume a continuous flow. Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 1997

Finally the end of Major's term has changed a few times. Although Major announced on May 2nd that he was stepping down as leader, the election wasn't immediate - for one thing Sir Marcus Fox, the Chairman of the 1922 Committee, was defeated in the general election and so there wasn't actually anyone to accept a resignation letter and call a contest for a bit. And I distinctly recall the 1997 leadership contest running for several weeks. Anthony Seldon's biography of Major, published that year, gives June 19 as Major's final day as leader (and the first time he saw JM since the general election) which is the date I've put here. Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hague-Duncan Smith

This has also gone through a few changes. My recollection is that the original scheduled declaration of the result was to be 12th September 2001 but it was moved back one day because of the attacks the previous day. Has anyone got a source for any date? Timrollpickering 21:52, 30 June 2007 (UTC)