Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council
Incumbent
Penny Sharpe
since 28 March 2023
StyleThe Honourable
AppointerGovernor of New South Wales
Inaugural holderWilliam Mayne
(as the Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council)
Formation6 June 1856
DeputyJohn Graham

The Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council, known before 1 July 1966 as Representative of the Government in the Legislative Council, is an office held in New South Wales by the most senior minister in the New South Wales Legislative Council, elected to lead the governing party (or parties) in the council. Though the leader in the Council does not have the power of the office of Premier, there are some parallels between the latter's status in the Legislative Assembly and the former's in the Council. This means that the leader has responsibility for all policy areas, acts as the government's principal spokesperson in the upper house and has priority in gaining recognition from the President of the Council to speak in debate.

Traditionally, but not always, the office has been held with the sinecure office of Vice-President of the Executive Council. The current leader is Penny Sharpe since 28 March 2023. The leader is assisted by a Deputy Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council, John Graham.

List of leaders

Leaders

Title Leader Party Term start Term end Time in office Notes
Representative of the Government William Mayne None 6 June 1856 25 August 1856 80 days
Alfred Lutwyche 12 September 1856 2 October 1856 20 days [1]
Edward Deas Thomson [a] 3 October 1856 7 September 1857 339 days
Alfred Lutwyche 19 November 1857 21 February 1859 1 year, 94 days [1]
Lyttleton Bayley 23 February 1859 28 April 1859 64 days [1]
John Dickson 30 August 1859 28 September 1859 29 days [2]
John Hargrave 12 October 1859 26 October 1859 14 days [3]
Geoffrey Eagar 27 October 1859 8 March 1860 133 days
John Hargrave 9 March 1860 15 October 1863 3 years, 220 days
John Plunkett [b] 16 October 1863 2 February 1865 1 year, 109 days
John Hargrave 3 February 1865 21 January 1866 352 days
Joseph Docker 22 January 1866 26 October 1868 2 years, 278 days
Robert Owen 27 October 1868 1 August 1870 1 year, 278 days
Julian Salomons 11 August 1870 15 December 1870 126 days
Joseph Docker 16 December 1870 13 May 1872 1 year, 149 days
Saul Samuel [c] 14 May 1872 13 September 1873 1 year, 122 days
Joseph Innes 13 September 1873 8 February 1875 1 year, 148 days
Joseph Docker 9 February 1875 21 March 1877 2 years, 40 days
Saul Samuel 22 March 1877 16 August 1877 147 days
Joseph Docker [c] 17 August 1877 17 December 1877 122 days
John Marks [c] 18 December 1877 20 December 1878 1 year, 2 days
Sir John Robertson [c] 21 December 1878 10 November 1881 2 years, 324 days
Frederick Darley [c] 14 November 1881 4 January 1883 1 year, 51 days
William Dalley 5 January 1883 6 October 1885 2 years, 274 days
James Farnell 7 October 1885 9 October 1885 2 days
George Thornton 13 November 1885 21 December 1885 38 days
George Simpson 22 December 1885 25 February 1886 65 days
Charles Mackellar [c] 26 February 1886 23 December 1886 300 days
John Burns   Free Trade 21 January 1887 27 January 1887 6 days
Julian Salomons [c] 7 March 1887 16 January 1889 1 year, 315 days
Edmund Barton   Protectionist 17 January 1889 7 March 1889 49 days
William Suttor, Jr. [c]   Free Trade 8 March 1889 22 October 1891 2 years, 228 days
Sir Julian Salomons [c]   Protectionist 23 October 1891 26 January 1893 1 year, 95 days
Normand MacLaurin [c] 5 April 1893 2 August 1894 1 year, 119 days
William Suttor, Jr. [c]   Free Trade 3 August 1894 15 March 1895 224 days
Andrew Garran [c] 19 March 1895 18 November 1898 3 years, 244 days
John Hughes [c] 22 November 1898 13 September 1899 295 days
Kenneth Mackay [c]   Protectionist 14 September 1899 24 April 1900 222 days
Francis Suttor [c] 12 June 1900 9 April 1901 2 years, 345 days
  Progressive 28 March 1901 23 May 1903
Kenneth Mackay [c] 6 June 1903 29 August 1904 1 year, 84 days
John Hughes [c]   Liberal Reform 29 August 1904 20 October 1910 6 years, 52 days
Fred Flowers [c]   Labor 21 October 1910 27 April 1915 4 years, 188 days
John Fitzgerald [c] 27 April 1915 15 November 1916 3 years, 46 days
  Nationalist 15 November 1916 12 June 1918
John Garland 12 June 1918 12 April 1920 1 year, 305 days
Edward Kavanagh [c]   Labor 12 April 1920 20 December 1921 1 year, 252 days
Sir Joseph Carruthers [c]   Nationalist 20 December 1921 20 December 1921 7 hours
Edward Kavanagh [c]   Labor 20 December 1921 13 April 1922 114 days
Sir Joseph Carruthers [c]   Nationalist 13 April 1922 17 June 1925 3 years, 65 days
Albert Willis [c]   Labor 17 June 1925 18 October 1927 2 years, 123 days
Francis Boyce [c]   Nationalist 18 October 1927 3 November 1930 3 years, 16 days
Albert Willis [c]   Labor 4 November 1930 2 April 1931 149 days
James Concannon [c] 3 April 1931 15 October 1931 1 year, 40 days
  Labor (NSW) 15 October 1931 13 May 1932
James Ryan [c]   United Australia 16 May 1932 17 June 1932 32 days
Henry Manning [c] 18 June 1932 16 May 1941 8 years, 332 days
Reg Downing [c]   Labor 16 May 1941 13 May 1965 23 years, 362 days
Arthur Bridges [c]   Liberal 13 May 1965 30 June 1966 3 years, 9 days
Leader of the Government 1 July 1966 22 May 1968
Sir John Fuller [c]   Country 10 July 1968 14 May 1976 7 years, 309 days
Paul Landa [c]   Labor 14 May 1976 5 April 1984 7 years, 327 days
Barrie Unsworth [c] 5 April 1984 4 July 1986 2 years, 90 days
Jack Hallam [c] 4 July 1986 25 March 1988 1 year, 265 days
Ted Pickering [c]   Liberal 25 March 1988 22 October 1992 4 years, 214 days
John Hannaford [c] 22 October 1992 4 April 1995 2 years, 161 days
Michael Egan [c]   Labor 4 April 1995 21 January 2005 9 years, 292 days
John Della Bosca [c] 3 August 2005 13 June 2008 3 years, 144 days
Michael Costa (acting) 17 June 2008 8 September 2008 83 days
John Della Bosca [c] 8 September 2008 1 September 2009 358 days
Tony Kelly (acting) 1 September 2009 22 September 2009 21 days
John Hatzistergos [c] 22 September 2009 28 March 2011 1 year, 187 days [4]
Michael Gallacher [c]   Liberal 3 April 2011 2 May 2014 3 years, 29 days [5]
Duncan Gay [c]   National 6 May 2014 30 January 2017 2 years, 269 days [6]
Don Harwin [c]   Liberal 30 January 2017 15 April 2020 3 years, 76 days [7]
Damien Tudehope [c] 15 April 2020 3 July 2020 79 days [8]
Don Harwin [c] 3 July 2020 21 December 2021 1 year, 171 days [7]
Damien Tudehope [c] 21 December 2021 17 February 2023 1 year, 58 days [8]
Penny Sharpe [c]   Labor 28 March 2023 incumbent 355 days
  1. ^ Vice-President of the Executive Council from 23 May 1857.
  2. ^ Vice-President of the Executive Council from 23 November 1863.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av Concurrently Vice-President of the Executive Council.

Deputy Leaders

Deputy Leader [9] Party Term start Term end Time in office Notes
John Fuller   Country 1 July 1966 10 July 1968 2 years, 9 days [10]
Frederick Hewitt   Liberal 3 September 1968 14 May 1976 7 years, 254 days
Edna Roper   Labor 14 May 1976 17 October 1978 2 years, 156 days
Jack Hallam 18 October 1978 4 July 1986 7 years, 260 days
Deirdre Grusovin 4 July 1986 25 March 1988 1 year, 265 days
Bob Rowland Smith   National 25 March 1988 11 June 1991 3 years, 78 days
Robert Webster 12 June 1991 4 April 1995 3 years, 296 days
Ron Dyer   Labor 4 April 1995 28 February 2003 7 years, 330 days
John Della Bosca 28 February 2003 3 August 2005 2 years, 156 days
Michael Costa 1 February 2005 5 September 2008 3 years, 33 days
Tony Kelly 7 September 2008 28 March 2011 2 years, 202 days
Duncan Gay   National 3 May 2011 6 May 2014 3 years, 3 days [6]
John Ajaka   Liberal 6 May 2014 30 January 2017 2 years, 269 days
Niall Blair   National 30 January 2017 2 April 2019 2 years, 62 days
Sarah Mitchell 2 April 2019 28 March 2023 3 years, 360 days [11]
John Graham   Labor 28 March 2023 incumbent 355 days

References

  1. ^ a b c "Mr Alfred James Peter Lutwyche (1810-1880)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Legislative Council". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 September 1859. p. 2. Retrieved 19 January 2021 – via Trove.
  3. ^ "Mr John Fletcher Hargrave, QC (1815-1885)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  4. ^ "The Hon. John Hatzistergos (1960- )". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  5. ^ "The Hon. Michael Joseph Gallacher (1961-)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  6. ^ a b "The Hon. Duncan John Gay (1950 - )". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  7. ^ a b "The Hon. (Don) Donald Thomas Harwin". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  8. ^ a b "The Hon. Damien Francis Tudehope". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Part 3 Members of the Legislative Council" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Sir John Bryan Munro Fuller (1917–2009)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  11. ^ "The Hon. Sarah MITCHELL, MLC". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
Categories