The 18th Canadian Parliament was in session from February 6, 1936 until January 25, 1940. The membership was set by the 1935 federal election on October 14, 1935, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1940 election. It was controlled by a Liberal Party majority under Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and the 16th Canadian Ministry. The Official Opposition was the Conservative Party, led first by Richard Bedford Bennett, and later by Robert Manion.