Leader of the Labour Party (UK)

Leader of the Labour Party
Leader of the Labour Party
	Incumbent; Sir Keir Starmer; since 4 April 2020
Status	Party leader
Member of	National Executive Committee
Precursor	Chair of the PLP
Inaugural holder	Keir Hardie
Formation	17 January 1906
Deputy	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party

The leader of the Labour Party is the highest position within the United Kingdom's Labour Party. The current holder of the position is Keir Starmer, who was elected to the position on 4 April 2020, following his victory in the party's leadership election.

The post of Leader of the Labour Party was officially created in 1922. Before this, between when Labour MPs were first elected in 1906 and the general election in 1922, when substantial gains were made, the post was known as Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party.^[1] In 1970, the positions of leader of the Labour Party and chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party were separated.

In 1921, John R. Clynes became the first leader of the Labour Party to have been born in England; all party leaders before him had been born in Scotland. In 1924, Ramsay MacDonald became the first ever Labour prime minister, leading a minority government which lasted nine months. Clement Attlee would become the first Labour leader to lead a majority government in 1945. The first to be born in Wales was Neil Kinnock, who was elected in 1983. The most electorally successful leaders of the Labour Party to date are Tony Blair, who won three consecutive electoral victories in 1997, 2001 (both landslide victories), and 2005, and Harold Wilson, who won four general elections out of five contested, in 1964, 1966, February 1974 and October 1974. As of 2021^[update], the only Labour leaders not to contest a general election (excluding temporary acting leaders) are George Lansbury (who stood down), John Smith (who died in office), and Keir Starmer.^[a]

When the Labour Party is in opposition, as it currently is, the leader of the Labour Party usually acts (as the second largest party) as the leader of the Opposition, and chairs the shadow cabinet. Concordantly, when the Party is in government, the leader would usually become the prime minister of the United Kingdom, first lord of the Treasury and minister for the civil service, as well as appointing the cabinet.

Selection process[edit]

Unlike other British political party leaders, the Labour leader does not have the power to dismiss or appoint their deputy. Both the leader and deputy leader are elected by an alternative vote system. ^[2]

From 1980 to 2014 an electoral college was used, with a third of the votes allocated to the Party's MPs and MEPs, a third to individual members of the Labour Party, and a third to individual members of all affiliated organisations, including socialist societies and trade unions.

The 2015 leadership election used a "one member, one vote" system, in which the votes of party members and members of affiliated organisations are counted equally. MPs' and MEPs' votes are not counted separately, although a candidate needs to receive the support of 10% of Labour MPs in order to appear on the ballot.^[3]

Leaders of the Labour Party (1906–present)[edit]

Note: the right-hand column does not allocate height proportional to time in office.

A list of leaders (including acting leaders) since 1906.^[4]

No.	Leader (birth–death)	Constituency	Took office	Left office
1	Keir Hardie (1856–1915)	Merthyr Tydfil	17 February 1906	22 January 1908	Campbell-Bannerman 1905–1908
2	Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) (1st time)	Barnard Castle	22 January 1908	14 February 1910	Campbell-Bannerman 1905–1908
2	Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) (1st time)	Barnard Castle	22 January 1908	14 February 1910	Asquith 1908–1916
3	George Barnes (1859–1940)	Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown	14 February 1910	6 February 1911
4	Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) (1st time)	Leicester	6 February 1911	5 August 1914
(2)	Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) (2nd time)	Barnard Castle	5 August 1914	24 October 1917
(2)	Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) (2nd time)	Barnard Castle	5 August 1914	24 October 1917	Lloyd George 1916–1922
5	William Adamson (1863–1936)	West Fife	24 October 1917	14 February 1921
6	J. R. Clynes (1869–1949)	Manchester Platting	14 February 1921	21 November 1922
6	J. R. Clynes (1869–1949)	Manchester Platting	14 February 1921	21 November 1922	Law 1922–1923
(4)	Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) (2nd time)	Aberavon	21 November 1922 (elected)	28 August 1931	Law 1922–1923
					Baldwin 1923–1924
					Himself 1924
					Baldwin 1924–1929
					Himself 1929–1931
(2)	Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) (3rd time)	Burnley (1931) None^[b] (1931–1932)	28 August 1931 (unopposed)	25 October 1932	MacDonald 1931–1935
7	George Lansbury (1859–1940)	Bow and Bromley	25 October 1932 (unopposed)	8 October 1935

					Baldwin 1935–1937
8	Clement Attlee (1883–1967)	Limehouse (1935–1950) Walthamstow West (1950–1955)	8 October 1935 (elected)	7 December 1955^[5]	Baldwin 1935–1937
					Chamberlain 1937–1940
					Churchill 1940–1945
					Himself 1945–1951
					Churchill 1951–1955
					Eden 1955–1957
―	Herbert Morrison^[c] (1888–1965)	Lewisham South	7 December 1955	14 December 1955
9	Hugh Gaitskell (1906–1963)	Leeds South	14 December 1955 (elected)	18 January 1963 (died in office)
9	Hugh Gaitskell (1906–1963)	Leeds South	14 December 1955 (elected)	18 January 1963 (died in office)	Macmillan 1957–1963
―	George Brown^[c] (1914–1985)	Belper	18 January 1963	14 February 1963
10	Harold Wilson (1916–1995)	Huyton	14 February 1963 (elected)	5 April 1976
					Douglas-Home 1963–1964
					Himself 1964–1970
					Heath 1970–1974
					Himself 1974–1976
11	James Callaghan (1912–2005)	Cardiff South East	5 April 1976 (elected)	10 November 1980	Himself 1976–1979
11	James Callaghan (1912–2005)	Cardiff South East	5 April 1976 (elected)	10 November 1980	Thatcher 1979–1990
12	Michael Foot (1913–2010)	Ebbw Vale	10 November 1980 (elected)	2 October 1983
13	Neil Kinnock (b. 1942)	Islwyn	2 October 1983 (elected)	18 July 1992
13	Neil Kinnock (b. 1942)	Islwyn	2 October 1983 (elected)	18 July 1992	Major 1990–1997
14	John Smith (1938–1994)	Monklands East	18 July 1992 (elected)	12 May 1994 (died in office)
―	Margaret Beckett^[c] (b. 1943) (acting)	Derby South	12 May 1994	21 July 1994
15	Tony Blair (b. 1953)	Sedgefield	21 July 1994 (elected)	24 June 2007
15	Tony Blair (b. 1953)	Sedgefield	21 July 1994 (elected)	24 June 2007	Himself 1997–2007
16	Gordon Brown (b. 1951)	Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath	24 June 2007 (unopposed)	11 May 2010	Himself 2007–2010
―	Harriet Harman^[c] (b. 1950) (acting: 1st time)	Camberwell and Peckham	11 May 2010	25 September 2010	Cameron 2010–2016
17	Ed Miliband (b. 1969)	Doncaster North	25 September 2010 (elected)	8 May 2015
―	Harriet Harman^[c] (b. 1950) (acting: 2nd time)	Camberwell and Peckham	8 May 2015	12 September 2015
18	Jeremy Corbyn (b. 1949)	Islington North	12 September 2015 (elected)	4 April 2020
					May 2016–2019
					Johnson 2019–2022
19	Sir Keir Starmer (b. 1962)	Holborn and St Pancras	4 April 2020 (elected)	Incumbent	Johnson 2019–2022
					Truss 2022
					Sunak 2022 – present

Timeline[edit]

Leaders in the House of Lords[edit]

Retirement[edit]

It is not uncommon for a retired leader of the Labour Party to be granted a peerage upon their retirement, particularly if they served as prime minister; examples of this include Clement Attlee and Harold Wilson. However, Neil Kinnock was also elevated to the House of Lords, despite never being prime minister, and Michael Foot declined a similar offer.

Notes[edit]

^ See Labour's electoral performance.
^ Henderson was defeated in his Burnley seat in the 1931 election, and did not return to Parliament during his third term as leader. George Lansbury acted as the Labour parliamentary leader, until formally succeeding Henderson as party leader.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Deputy Leaders who assumed the role of party leader temporarily because of the death or resignation of the incumbent, serving until the election of a new leader. As they were not elected or appointed in an official capacity, they are not included in the order count. Herbert Morrison acted as leader for the seven days between Clement Attlee's resignation and Hugh Gaitskell's election as leader. George Brown and Margaret Beckett acted as leader following deaths of Gaitskell and John Smith, respectively. Harriet Harman acted as leader twice when Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband resigned.

References[edit]

^ Thorpe, Andrew. (2001) A History of the British Labour Party, Palgrave, ISBN 0-333-92908-X
^ Leeds de Melo, J (2003), Primary elections and party conferences — Democracy in political parties: UK, France, Germany and Italy, Routledge, 202 p.
^ "Labour proposals 'all-but guarantee leftwing Corbyn successor'". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
^ Boothroyd, David. "Leaders of the Labour Party". election.demon.co.uk. United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
^ Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds (2010), Attlee: A Life in Politics, London: I B Tauris, p. 260