Leader of the Legislative Council

In the New Zealand Parliament, the leader of the Legislative Council was a government minister appointed by the prime minister to be responsible for the management of government business in the Legislative Council until its abolition.

The office was created to delegate authority for a member of the Legislative Council (MLC) to introduce government legislation on behalf of the prime minister (who was normally a member of the House of Representatives instead).

List of holders

The following individuals held the office of leader of the Legislative Council.^[1]

Key

  Independent   Liberal   Reform   United   Labour   National

No.		Name	Portrait	Term of Office		Government
	1	Frederick Whitaker		12 May 1856	24 May 1856		Sewell
							Fox I
	2	Ralph Richardson		24 May 1856	2 June 1856
	(1)	Frederick Whitaker		2 June 1856	16 July 1861		Stafford I
							Fox II
	3	Daniel Pollen		16 July 1861	6 August 1862
	4	Henry Tancred		6 August 1862	2 November 1863		Domett
							Whitaker I
	(1)	Frederick Whitaker		2 November 1863	24 November 1864
	5	Henry Sewell		24 November 1864	26 July 1865		Weld
	6	James Crowe Richmond		26 July 1865	17 October 1865
	7	Andrew Russell		17 October 1865	July 1866		Stafford II
	8	John Johnston		July 1866	July 1867
	9	John Richardson		July 1867	July 1868
	(3)	Daniel Pollen		July 1868	2 July 1869
							Fox III
	10	William Gisborne		2 July 1869	10 September 1872
	(5)	Henry Sewell		10 September 1872	11 October 1872		Stafford III
	11	George Waterhouse		11 October 1872	15 July 1873		Waterhouse
							Fox IV
							Vogel I
	(3)	Daniel Pollen		15 July 1873	16 October 1877
							Pollen
							Vogel II
							Atkinson I, II
	12	George Stoddart Whitmore		16 October 1877	8 October 1879		Grey
	(1)	Frederick Whitaker		8 October 1879	4 June 1884		Hall
							Whitaker II
							Atkinson III
	13	Richard Oliver		4 June 1884	19 August 1884
	(12)	George Stoddart Whitmore		19 August 1884	29 August 1884		Stout–Vogel
	14	George McLean		29 August 1884	4 September 1884		Atkinson IV
	15	Patrick Buckley		4 September 1884	11 October 1887		Stout–Vogel
	(1)	Frederick Whitaker		11 October 1887	27 January 1891		Atkinson V
	(15)	Patrick Buckley		27 January 1891	11 June 1896		Liberal
	16	William Campbell Walker		11 June 1896	29 June 1903
	17	Albert Pitt		29 June 1903	27 June 1907
	18	John Findlay		27 June 1907	1 August 1911
	19	James McGowan		1 August 1911	29 August 1911
	(18)	John Findlay		29 August 1911	16 February 1912
	(19)	James McGowan		16 February 1912	27 June 1912
	20	Oliver Samuel		27 June 1912	10 July 1912
	21	Francis Bell		10 July 1912	17 June 1926		Reform
	22	Heaton Rhodes		17 June 1926	June 1927
	(21)	Francis Bell		June 1927	10 December 1928
	23	Thomas Sidey		10 December 1928	2 October 1931		United
							United–Reform
	24	Robert Masters		2 October 1931	15 October 1931
	25	James Parr		15 October 1931	5 December 1933
	(24)	Robert Masters		5 December 1933	25 March 1936
	26	Mark Fagan		25 March 1936	17 September 1939		First Labour
	27	David Wilson		17 September 1939	26 September 1944
	28	Angus McLagan		26 September 1944	25 June 1947
	(27)	David Wilson		25 June 1947	27 June 1950
	29	William Polson		27 June 1950	31 December 1950		First National

See also

• New Zealand Legislative Council
• Leader of the House (equivalent in the House of Representatives)