Chief Whip of the Liberal Democrats

The Chief Whip of the Liberal Democrats is responsible for administering the whipping system in the party which ensures that members attend and vote in parliament when the party leadership requires a majority vote. Whips, of which two are appointed in the party, a member of the House of Commons and a member of the House of Lords, also help to organise their party’s contribution to parliamentary business. On some occasions, the party leadership may allow MP's to have a free vote based on their own conscience rather than party policy, of which the chief whip is not required to direct votes.

This is a list of people who have served as Chief Whip of the Liberal Democrats in the Parliament of the United Kingdom and of its predecessor parties. The Liberal Party was formed in 1859, but through its roots in the Whig Party dates back to the late 1670s. In 1988, the Liberals merged with the Social Democratic Party, formed by dissident Labour Party members in 1981, to create the Liberal Democrats.

House of Commons

Whigs YearNameConstituency1830Edward ElliceCoventry1830Charles WoodGreat Grimsby1834Francis Thornhill BaringPortsmouth1835Edward John StanleyNorth Cheshire1841Richard More O'FerrallKildare1846Henry TufnellPlymouth Devonport1850William Goodenough HayterWells

Liberal Party YearNameConstituency1859Henry Bouverie William BrandLewes1866George Grenfell GlynShaftesbury1873Arthur Wellesley PeelWarwick1874William Patrick AdamClackmannanshire and Kinross-shire1880Lord Richard GrosvenorFlintshire1885Arnold MorleyNottingham East1892Edward MarjoribanksBerwickshire1894T. E. EllisMerioneth1900Herbert GladstoneLeeds West1905George WhiteleyPudsey1908Joseph PeaseSaffron Walden1910The Master of ElibankMidlothian1912Percy IllingworthShipley1915John GullandDumfries Burghs1923Vivian PhillippsEdinburgh West1924Sir Godfrey CollinsGreenock1926Sir Robert HutchinsonMontrose Burghs1930Archibald SinclairCaithness and Sutherland1931Goronwy OwenCaernarvonshire1932Walter ReaDewsbury1935Sir Percy HarrisBethnal Green South West1945Tom HorabinNorth Cornwall1946Frank ByersNorth Dorset1950Jo GrimondOrkney and Shetland1956Donald WadeHuddersfield West1962Arthur HoltBolton West1963Eric LubbockOrpington1970David SteelRoxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles1976Cyril SmithRochdale1977Alan BeithBerwick-upon-Tweed1985David AltonLiverpool Mossley Hill1987Jim Wallace1Orkney and Shetland 1 Wallace continued as Liberal Democrat Chief Whip following the merger

Social Democratic Party YearNameConstituency1981John RoperFarnworth1983John CartwrightWoolwich

Liberal Democrats YearNameConstituency1988Jim WallaceOrkney and Shetland1992Archy KirkwoodRoxburgh and Berwickshire1997Paul TylerNorth Cornwall2001Andrew StunellHazel Grove2006Paul BurstowSutton and Cheam2010Alistair CarmichaelOrkney and Shetland2013Don FosterBath2015Tom BrakeCarshalton and Wallington2017Alistair CarmichaelOrkney and Shetland2020 Wendy Chamberlain North East Fife

House of Lords

Whigs YearName1837The Viscount Falkland1840none11846The Viscount FalklandMay 1848The Earl of Bessborough

Liberal Party YearName1859The Earl of BessboroughJan 1880The Lord Monson (created Viscount Oxenbridge in 1886)Aug 1892The Lord KensingtonOct 1896The Lord RibblesdaleMay 1907The Lord Denman1911The Lord Colebrooke1922none2 1924The Lord Stanmore1944The Viscount Mersey1949The Marquess of Willingdon1950The Lord Moynihan1950The Lord Rea1955The Lord Amulree1977The Lord Wigoder1984The Lord Tordoff3

1 Falkland was absent serving as Governor of Nova Scotia 2 Colebrooke continued as Liberal Chief Whip in the Lloyd George coalition of 1916 to 1922. Denman was Chief Whip of the Opposition Asquith Liberals from 1919 to 1924 3 Tordoff continued as Liberal Democrat Chief Whip following the merger

Social Democratic Party

YearName1981The Lord Kennet1983The Lord Kilmarnock1986The Baroness Stedman

Liberal Democrats YearName1988The Lord Tordoff1994The Lord Harris of Greenwich2001The Lord Roper2005The Lord Shutt of Greetland2012The Lord Newby2016The Lord Stoneham of Droxford 2026-presentThe Lord Goddard of Stockport

Chief Whips of the National Liberal Party (Coalition Liberals), 1916–1923

YearNameConstituency1916Neil James Archibald PrimroseWisbech1916Freddie GuestEast Dorset1921Charles McCurdyNorthampton1922Edward Hilton YoungNorwich

Chief Whips of the Liberal National Party (later National Liberal Party), 1931–1966 YearNameConstituency1931Alec GlasseyEast Dorset1931Geoffrey ShakespeareNorwich1932James Blindell (knighted in 1936)Holland with Boston1937Charles KerrMontrose Burghs1940Herbert HoldsworthBradford South1945Herbert Butcher (knighted in 1953; created a Baronet in 1960)Holland with Boston

See also Chief Whip of the Conservative Party Chief Whip of the Labour Party Chief Whip of Reform UK

References

Bibliography Chris Cook and Brendan Keith, British Historical Facts 1830–1900, Macmillan, 1975 David Butler and Gareth Butler, Twentieth-Century British Historical Facts 1900–2000, Macmillan, 2000