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The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest opposition party in a Westminster System of parliamentary government. The Leader of the Opposition is invariably seen as the alternative prime minister to the present incumbent, and heads a rival alternative government known as the Shadow Cabinet or Front Bench. Since 1937 the Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom has received a state salary, at first at Ł2,000, and rising since to Ł65,482. This is in addition to their salary as an MP (currently Ł56,358).

In Commonwealth Realm monarchies, the full title is Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.

Leader of the Opposition in the UK

Those who became PM after the end of their session as Leader of the Opposition are indicated in italics.

Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby - Conservative - (1859-1866)
''William Ewart Gladstone - Liberal - (1866-1868)
Benjamin Disraeli'' - Conservative - (1868-1874)
William Ewart Gladstone - Liberal - (1874-1875)
Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington and Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville - Liberal - (1875-1880)
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield - Conservative - (1880-1881)
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury and Sir Stafford Northcote - Conservative - (1881-1885)
''William Ewart Gladstone'' - Liberal - (1885-1886)
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury - Conservative - (1886)
''William Ewart Gladstone'' - Liberal - (1886-1892)
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury - Conservative - (1892-1895)
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery - Liberal (1895-1896)
Sir William Vernon Harcourt - Liberal - (1896-1899)
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman - Liberal - (1899-1905)
Arthur Balfour - Conservative - (1905-1911)
Andrew Bonar Law - Conservative - (1911-1915)
None (1915-1916)
Herbert Henry Asquith - Opposition Liberal - (1916-1918)
Sir Donald Maclean - Opposition Liberal - (1918-1922)
Ramsay Macdonald - Labour - (1922-1924)
''Stanley Baldwin'' - Conservative - (1924)
Ramsay Macdonald - Labour - (1924-1929)
Stanley Baldwin - Conservative - (1929-1931)
Arthur Henderson - Labour - (1931)
George Lansbury - Labour - (1931-1935)
Clement Attlee - Labour - (1935-1940)
None (1940-1945) A succession of politicians acted as Leader of the Opposition for the purpose of allowing the House of Commons to function as normally, however none of them received the salary for the post of Leader of the Opposition.
''Clement Attlee - Labour - (1945)
Winston Churchill'' - Conservative - (1945-1951)
Clement Attlee - Labour - (1951-1955)
Hugh Gaitskell - Labour - (1955-1963)
Harold Wilson - Labour - (1963-1964)
Sir Alec Douglas-Home - Conservative - (1964-1965)
Edward Heath - Conservative - (1965-1970)
Harold Wilson - Labour - (1970-1974)
Edward Heath - Conservative - (1974-1975)
Margaret Thatcher - Conservative - (1975-1979)
James Callaghan - Labour - (1979-1980)
Michael Foot - Labour - (1980-1983)
Neil Kinnock - Labour - (1983-1992)
John Smith - Labour - (1992-1994)
Margaret Beckett - Labour - (caretaker) (1994)
Tony Blair - Labour - (1994-1997)
John Major - Conservative - (1997)
William Hague - Conservative - (1997-2001)
Iain Duncan Smith - Conservative - (2001-2003)
Michael Howard - Conservative - (2003-)