BRIEFING PAPER Number CBP07157, 6 April 2020
Labour Party leaders and Compiled by officials since 1975 Sarah Priddy
Leadership elections The Commons Library Briefing Paper SN03938, Leadership Elections: Labour Party, 6 Apr 2020 outlines the rules under which leadership elections are conducted by the Labour Party and gives details of previous leadership contests.
Further reading Labour Party website Leadership and Deputy Leadership election 2020 - Results Labour Party - structure and organisation National Executive Committee – roles and responsibilities Labour Party Rule Book 2019 [pdf]: includes leadership election rules and procedures for selecting candidates. David Kogan, Protest and Power: The Battle for the Labour Party, 2019 Richard Seymour, Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics, 2017 Martin Pugh, Speak for Britain! A New History of the Labour Party, 2011
Current state of the parties The current composition of the House of Commons and links to the websites of all the parties represented in the Commons can be found on the Parliament website: current state of the parties.
www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | [email protected] | @commonslibrary BRIEFING PAPER 07157 6 April 2020
Labour Party leaders and officials since 1975
Leader start end Harold Wilson Feb 1963 Apr 1976 James Callaghan Apr 1976 Nov 1980 Michael Foot Nov 1980 Oct 1983 Neil Kinnock Oct 1983 Jul 1992 John Smith Jul 1992 May 1994 Margaret Beckett (acting) 1 May 1994 Jul 1994 Tony Blair Jul 1994 Jun 2007 Gordon Brown Jun 2007 May 2010 Harriet Harman (acting) 2 May 2010 Sep 2010 Ed Miliband Sep 2010 Sep 2015 Jeremy Corbyn Sep 2015 Apr 2020 Sir Keir Starmer Apr 2020 present
Deputy Leader start end Edward Short Apr 1972 Oct 1976 Michael Foot Oct 1976 Nov 1980 Denis Healey Nov 1980 Jun 1983 Roy Hattersley Oct 1983 Apr 1992 Margaret Beckett Apr 1992 May 1994 John Prescott Jul 1994 Jun 2007 Harriet Harman Jun 2007 Sep 2015 Tom Watson Sep 2015 Apr 2020 Angela Rayner Apr 2020 present
National Executive Committee Chair Tom Bradley 1975 1976 John Chalmers 1976 1977 Joan Lestor 1977 1978 Frank Allaun 1978 1979 Lena Jeger 1979 1980 Alex Kitson 1980 1981 Judith Hart 1981 1982 Sam McCluskey 1982 1983 Eric Heffer 1983 1984 Alan Hadden 1984 1985 Neville Hough 1985 Syd Tierney 1986 1987 Neil Kinnock 1987 1988 Dennis Skinner 1988 1989 Jo Richardson 1989 1990 Tom Sawyer 1990 1991 John Evans 1991 1992 Tony Clarke 1992 1993 David Blunkett 1993 1994 Gordon Colling 1994 1995 Diana Jeuda 1995 1996 Robin Cook 1996 1997 Richard Rosser 1997 1998 Brenda Etchells 1998 1999 Vernon Hince 1999 2000 Maggie Jones 2000 2001 Margaret Wall 2001 2002 Diana Holland 2002 2003 Mary Turner 2003 2004 Ian McCartney 2004 2005 Jeremy Beecham 2005 2006 Michael Griffiths 2006 2007 Dianne Hayter 2007 2008 Cath Speight 2008 2009 Ann Black 2009 2010 Norma Stephenson 2010 2011 Michael Cashman MEP 2011 2012 Harriet Yeo 2012 2013 Angela Eagle 2013 2014 Jim Kennedy 2014 2015 Paddy Lillis 2015 2016 Glenis Willmott MEP 2016 2017 Andy Kerr 2017 2018 Wendy Nichols 2018 2019 Andi Fox 2019 2020
Parliamentary Labour Party Chair start end Cledwyn Hughes 1974 1979 Frederick Willey May 1979 Oct 1981 Jack Dormand Oct 1981 Jun 1987 Stan Orme Jun 1987 Apr 1992 Doug Hoyle Apr 1992 May 1997 Clive Soley May 1997 Jun 2001 Jean Corston Jun 2001 May 2005 Ann Clwyd May 2005 Dec 2006 Tony Lloyd Dec 2006 Mar 2012 Dave Watts Mar 2012 Feb 2015 John Cryer Feb 2015 present
Notes: 1. The Deputy Leader automatically becomes the Leader when there is a vacancy and the Party is in opposition. The NEC then decides whether to hold an immediate ballot or elect a new leader at the next Party Conference. 2. When the Party is in Government and there is a vacancy, the Cabinet, in consultation with the NEC appoints one its members to serve as leader until a ballot can be carried out. See: Labour Party Rule Book 2019: Election of leader and deputy leader, p22 Non MPs are italised - Lena Jeger was an MP until she lost her seat in 1979; She was made a life peer in 1979. Parliament: facts and figures • Browse all briefings in the series This series of publications contains data on various subjects relating to Parliament and Government. Topics include legislation, MPs, select committees, debates, divisions and Parliamentary procedure. Feedback Please send comments or corrections to the Parliament & Constitution Centre. Suggestions for new lists welcomed.
About the Library The House of Commons Library research service provides MPs and their staff with the impartial briefing and evidence base they need to do their work in scrutinising Government, proposing legislation, and supporting constituents. As well as providing MPs with a confidential service we publish open briefing papers, which are available on the Parliament website. Every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in these publicly available research briefings is correct at the time of publication. Readers should be aware however that briefings are not necessarily updated or otherwise amended to reflect subsequent changes. If you have any comments on our briefings please email [email protected]. Authors are available to discuss the content of this briefing only with Members and their staff. If you have any general questions about the work of the House of Commons you can email [email protected]. Disclaimer This information is provided to Members of Parliament in support of their parliamentary duties. It is a general briefing only and should not be relied on as a substitute for specific advice. The House of Commons or the author(s) shall not be liable for any errors or omissions, or for any loss or damage of any kind arising from its use, and may remove, vary or amend any information at any time without prior notice. The House of Commons accepts no responsibility for any references or links to, or the content of, information maintained by third parties. This information is provided subject to the conditions of the Open Parliament Licence.