List of Canadian conservative leaders

This is a list of federal leaders after Confederation who were members of federal conservative parties.

	From	To	Riding as leader	Notes
Sir John A. Macdonald	July 1, 1867	June 6, 1891	Kingston, ON (1867–18, 1887–91); Victoria, BC (1878–82); Carleton, ON (1882–88)	1st Prime Minister
Sir John Abbott	June 16, 1891	November 24, 1892	Senator for Inkerman, QC	3rd Prime Minister
Sir John Sparrow David Thompson	December 5, 1892	December 12, 1894	Antigonish, NS	4th Prime Minister
Sir Mackenzie Bowell	December 21, 1894	April 27, 1896	Senator for Hastings, ON	5th Prime Minister
Sir Charles Tupper	May 1, 1896	February 6, 1901	Cape Breton, NS	6th Prime Minister
Sir Robert Laird Borden	February 6, 1901	July 10, 1920	Halifax, NS (1900–04, 1908–17); Carleton, ON (1905–08); Kings, NS (1917–21)	8th Prime Minister
Arthur Meighen	July 10, 1920	September 24, 1926	Portage la Prairie, MB (1908–21, 1925–26); Grenville, ON (1922–25)	9th Prime Minister
Hugh Guthrie (interim leader)	October 11, 1926	October 12, 1927	Wellington South
R. B. Bennett	October 12, 1927	July 7, 1938	Calgary West, AB	11th Prime Minister
Robert Manion	July 7, 1938	May 14, 1940	London, ON	Resigned after lost seat in 1940 election
Richard Hanson (interim leader)	May 14, 1940	November 12, 1941	York—Sunbury, NB
Arthur Meighen	November 12, 1941	December 9, 1942	Senator for St. Marys, Ontario	Resigned after defeat in attempt to enter House of Commons via York South by-election

Name	Term start	Term end	Riding as leader	Notes
John Bracken	December 11, 1942	July 20, 1948	Neepawa	Former Premier of Manitoba
George Drew	October 2, 1948	November 29, 1956	Carleton	Former Premier of Ontario
William Earl Rowe	November 29, 1956 (Interim)	December 14, 1956	Dufferin—Simcoe	Interim leader until 1956 leadership convention
John Diefenbaker	December 14, 1956	September 9, 1967	Prince Albert	13th Prime Minister of Canada
Robert Stanfield	September 9, 1967	February 22, 1976	Halifax	Former Premier of Nova Scotia
Joe Clark	February 22, 1976	February 19, 1983	Rocky Mountain, Yellowhead	16th Prime Minister of Canada
Erik Nielsen	February 19, 1983 (Interim)	June 11, 1983	Yukon	Interim leader until 1983 leadership convention
Brian Mulroney	June 11, 1983	June 13, 1993	Central Nova, Manicouagan, Charlevoix	18th Prime Minister of Canada
Kim Campbell	June 13, 1993	December 14, 1993	Vancouver Centre	19th Prime Minister of Canada
Jean Charest	December 14, 1993	April 2, 1998	Sherbrooke	Former Premier of Quebec
Elsie Wayne	April 2, 1998 (Interim)	November 14, 1998	Saint John	Interim until 1998 leadership election
Joe Clark	November 14, 1998	May 31, 2003	Kings—Hants, Calgary Centre	His second tenure as leader
Peter MacKay	May 31, 2003	December 7, 2003	Central Nova	Final leader of the Progressive Conservative Party; merged the PC Party with Stephen Harper's Canadian Alliance in 2003, cofounding the new Conservative Party of Canada.

Leader		Term start	Term end	Constituency	Notes
—	John Lynch-Staunton	8 December 2003	20 March 2004	Senator for Grandville, Quebec	Interim leader, served concurrently as Senate Opposition Leader.
1st	Stephen Harper	20 March 2004	19 October 2015 Acting: 19 October 2015 – 4 November 2015	Calgary Southwest, Alberta	First official leader of the modern Conservative Party of Canada; Served as Leader of the Official Opposition from 2004–2006, and Prime Minister from 2006–2015.
—	Rona Ambrose	5 November 2015	27 May 2017	Sturgeon River—Parkland, Alberta	Interim leader, served concurrently as Leader of the Official Opposition.
2nd	Andrew Scheer	27 May 2017	24 August 2020	Regina—Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan	Served concurrently as Leader of the Official Opposition 2017–2020; (resigned 12 December 2019, remained leader until his successor was chosen on 24 August 2020).^[1]
3rd	Erin O'Toole	24 August 2020	2 February 2022	Durham, Ontario	Served concurrently as Leader of the Official Opposition 2020–2022; (removed 2 February 2022 by the Conservative caucus).
—	Candice Bergen	2 February 2022	10 September 2022	Portage—Lisgar, Manitoba	Interim leader, served concurrently as Leader of the Official Opposition 2022.
4th	Pierre Poilievre	10 September 2022	Incumbent	Carleton, Ontario	Serves concurrently as Leader of the Official Opposition.

Election	Leader	Party name	# of candidates nominated	# of seats won	+/–	Election Outcome	# of total votes	% of popular vote	Position
1867	John A. Macdonald	Conservatives, Liberal-Conservatives	112	100 / 180	100	1st	92,656	34.53%	Majority
1872	John A. Macdonald	Conservatives, Liberal-Conservatives, one Conservative Labour	140	100 / 200		1st	123,100	38.66%	Minority
1874	John A. Macdonald	Conservatives, Liberal-Conservatives, one Conservative Labour	104	65 / 206	35	2nd	99,440	30.58%	Opposition
1878	John A. Macdonald	Conservatives, Liberal-Conservatives	161	129 / 206	64	1st	229,191	42.06%	Majority
1882	John A. Macdonald	Conservatives, Liberal-Conservatives	168	136 / 215	7	1st	208,544	40.39%	Majority
1887	John A. Macdonald	Conservatives, Liberal-Conservatives	203	111 / 215	25	1st	343,805	47.41%	Majority
1891	John A. Macdonald	Conservatives, Liberal-Conservatives	212	117 / 215	6	1st	376,518	48.58%	Majority
1896	Charles Tupper	Conservatives, Liberal-Conservatives	207	98 / 213	19	2nd	467,415	48.17%	Opposition
1900	Charles Tupper	Conservatives, Liberal-Conservatives	204	79 / 213	9	2nd	438,330	46.1%	Opposition
1904	Robert Borden	Conservatives, Liberal-Conservatives	205	75 / 214	4	2nd	470,430	45.94%	Opposition
1908	Robert Borden	Conservatives, Liberal-Conservatives	211	85 / 221	10	2nd	539,374	46.21%	Opposition
1911	Robert Borden	Conservatives, Liberal-Conservatives and Nationalist Conservatives	212	132 / 221	48	1st	636,938	48.90%	Majority
1917	Robert Borden	Unionist Party	211	152 / 235	20	1st	1,070,694	56.93%	Majority
1921	Arthur Meighen	National Liberal and Conservative Party	204	49 / 235	103	3rd	935,651	29.95%	Third Party
1925	Arthur Meighen	Conservatives	232	114 / 245	65	1st	1,454,253	46.13%	Minority - initially formed Opposition; became government upon invitation of Governor-General following non-confidence vote
1926	Arthur Meighen	Conservatives	232	91 / 245	23	2nd	1,476,834	45.34%	Opposition
1930	R. B. Bennett	Conservatives	229	135 / 245	44	1st	1,836,115	47.79%	Majority
1935	R. B. Bennett	Conservatives	228	39 / 245	94	2nd	1,290,671	29.84%	Opposition
1940	Robert James Manion	National Government	207	39 / 245		2nd	1,402,059	30.41%	Opposition

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Role	Government
1945	John Bracken	1,448,744	27.62%	64 / 245	27	2nd	Opposition	Liberal minority
1949	George A. Drew	1,734,261	29.62%	41 / 262	23	2nd	Opposition	Liberal majority
1953	George A. Drew	1,749,579	31.01%	50 / 265	9	2nd	Opposition	Liberal majority
1957	John Diefenbaker	2,564,732	38.81%	109 / 265	59	1st	Minority	PC minority
1958	John Diefenbaker	3,908,633	53.56%	208 / 265	99	1st	Majority	PC majority
1962	John Diefenbaker	2,865,542	37.22%	114 / 265	94	1st	Minority	PC minority
1963	John Diefenbaker	2,591,613	32.80%	93 / 265	21	2nd	Opposition	Liberal minority
1965	John Diefenbaker	2,500,113	32.41%	95 / 265	2	2nd	Opposition	Liberal minority
1968	Robert Stanfield	2,554,397	31.43%	72 / 264	23	2nd	Opposition	Liberal majority
1972	Robert Stanfield	3,388,980	35.02%	107 / 264	35	2nd	Opposition	Liberal minority
1974	Robert Stanfield	3,371,319	35.46%	95 / 264	22	2nd	Opposition	Liberal majority
1979	Joe Clark	4,111,606	35.89%	136 / 282	51	1st	Minority	PC minority
1980	Joe Clark	3,552,994	32.49%	103 / 282	33	2nd	Opposition	Liberal majority
1984	Brian Mulroney	6,278,818	50.03%	211 / 282	108	1st	Majority	PC majority
1988	Brian Mulroney	5,667,543	43.02%	169 / 295	42	1st	Majority	PC majority
1993	Kim Campbell	2,178,303	16.04%	2 / 295	167	5th	No status	Liberal majority
1997	Jean Charest	2,446,705	18.84%	20 / 301	18	5th	Fifth party	Liberal majority
2000	Joe Clark	1,566,994	12.19%	12 / 301	8	5th	Fifth party	Liberal majority

List of Canadian conservative leaders

Contents

Tory leaders since Confederation

Conservative (1867–1942)

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–2003)

Conservative Party of Canada (2003–present)

Tory prime ministers of Canada

Conservative (1867–1942)

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–2003)

Conservative Party of Canada (2003–present)

Electoral performance of Tory leaders

Conservative (historical; 1867–1942)

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–2003)

Conservative Party of Canada (2003–present)

Other conservative parties' leaders

Parties that have had representation in the House of Commons

"Reform-Alliance"

Leaders of the Reform Party of Canada

Leaders of the Canadian Alliance

Leaders of the Reconstruction Party of Canada

Leaders of the Social Credit Party of Canada

Parties that have had no representation in the House of Commons

Leaders of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada

Leaders of the Libertarian Party of Canada

Leaders of the Progressive Canadian Party

Leaders of the Western Block Party

Leader of the Alliance of the North

References

Notes

Languages

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position	Government
2004	Stephen Harper	4,019,498	29.63%	99 / 308	21	2nd	Opposition
2006		5,374,071	36.37%	124 / 308	25	1st	Minority
2008		5,209,069	37.65%	143 / 308	19	1st	Minority
2011		5,832,401	39.62%	166 / 308	23	1st	Majority
2015		5,613,633	31.91%	99 / 338	67	2nd	Opposition
2019	Andrew Scheer	6,239,227	34.34%	121 / 338	22	2nd	Opposition
2021	Erin O'Toole	5,747,410	33.74%	119 / 338	2	2nd	Opposition