Lord Strathclyde resigns as leader of House of Lords Lord Strathclyde, who has resigned as leader of the House of Lords. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images The Conservative leader of the House of Lords, Lord Strathclyde, has resigned from the government just hours before the official launch of the coalition's mid-term review. Strathclyde, 52, was one of the longest-serving ministers, having been in government for a quarter of a century, and was one of Margaret Thatcher's last remaining ministers still in government. The timing of the announcement prompted speculation about why he had chosen to risk distracting attention from the coalition on the day it was attempting to relaunch itself. In his resignation letter to David Cameron, Strathclyde said the time was right to leave, having recently clocked up 15 years as leader of the Tories in the Lords, and 25 years on the party's frontbench, having previously served as a whip, chief whip and minister. "The Lords is an extraordinary and vigorous place, but recently I've been thinking of a change of direction," Strathclyde wrote to the prime minister. I started my life in the private sector and at some stage always hoped to return, I would now like to do so. Downing Street announced that Lord Hill of Oareford would replace Strathclyde as leader of the Lords and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the cabinet. Hill, a former political secretary to prime minister John Major was said to have failed to resign as a junior education minister in the reshuffle in September when Cameron apparently failed to notice Hill was trying to quit. Strathclyde was appointed a Companion of Honour, and praised by Cameron for his "assured handling" of Lords business, which included tricky times over the now shelved reform of the House of Lords and rebellions among coalition peers on issues including secret courts and NHS reform. "To me personally, you have always been a staunch friend and wise counsel," Cameron said. You will be much missed.