Leader of the Labour Party (UK)
| Leader of the Labour Party | |
|---|---|
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| 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 political office within the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. The current holder of the position is Keir Starmer, who was elected to the position on 4 April 2020, following his victory in that year's leadership election. He has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since the 2024 general election.
The position of leader was officially codified in the Labour Party's constitution in 1922. Before this, from when Labour MPs were first elected at the 1906 general election and the 1922 general election (the first election that saw substantial gains for the Labour Party), the position of leader was known as Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).[1] After the 1970 general election, the positions of party leader and PLP chair were separated.
In 1921, J. R. Clynes became the first Leader of the Labour Party to have been born in England; all leaders before him had been born in Scotland. After the 1924 general election, Ramsay MacDonald became the first party leader to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, leading a minority government which lasted nine months. Following the 1945 general election, Clement Attlee became the first leader to form a majority government. In 1983, Neil Kinnock became the first party leader to have been born in Wales. The only two party leaders not to have contest general elections (excluding acting leaders) are George Lansbury, who resigned, and John Smith, who died in office.[a]
To date, the only leaders to have led the party to victory in general elections are Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson, Tony Blair and Keir Starmer. Out of the four, Blair was the most successful, winning three consecutive electoral victories in 1997, 2001 (both landslide victories), and 2005. Wilson won four general elections out of five contested, in 1964, 1966, February 1974 (forming a minority government) and October 1974. Attlee, the first leader to lead Labour to a majority in 1945, also won in 1950. Starmer, having been elected after a poor result in 2019, led Labour to a landslide victory in 2024. Both James Callaghan and Gordon Brown also served as Prime Minister, but did not win general elections.
When the Labour Party forms the Government of the United Kingdom, the leader is expected to serve as Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service, as well as appointing and chairing the Cabinet. Concordantly, when the party is in Opposition, the leader is expected to act as the Leader of the Opposition and to chair the Shadow Cabinet.
Selection process
[edit]The Leader of the Labour Party, along with their deputy, is elected using an alternative vote system.[2] Before 1980, the party leader was elected solely by members of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
From 1980 to 2014 an electoral college was used to elect the leader, with a third of 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.
Beginning with the 2015 leadership election, the party now uses a "one member, one vote" system, in which the votes of MPs, party members and members of affiliated organisations are all weighted equally. While the votes of Labour MPs are no longer counted separately, leadership candidates must first receive the nomination of at least 20% of 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 | Elections fought | Tenure | Prime Minister (term) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keir Hardie (1856–1915) |
|
Merthyr Tydfil | 17 January 1906 | 22 January 1908 | 1906 | 2 years, 5 days | Campbell-Bannerman 1905–1908 | |
| 2 | Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) (1st time) |
|
Barnard Castle | 22 January 1908 | 14 February 1910 | Jan 1910 | 2 years, 24 days | ||
| Asquith 1908–1916 | |||||||||
| 3 | George Barnes (1859–1940) |
|
Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown | 14 February 1910 | 6 February 1911 | Dec 1910 | 358 days | ||
| 4 | Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) (1st time) |
|
Leicester | 6 February 1911 | 5 August 1914 | ― | 3 years, 181 days | ||
| (2) | Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) (2nd time) |
|
Barnard Castle | 5 August 1914 | 24 October 1917 | ― | 3 years, 81 days | ||
| Lloyd George 1916–1922 | |||||||||
| 5 | William Adamson (1863–1936) |
|
West Fife | 24 October 1917 | 14 February 1921 | 1918 | 3 years, 113 days | ||
| 6 | J. R. Clynes (1869–1949) |
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|
Manchester Platting | 14 February 1921 | 21 November 1922 | 1922 | 1 year, 281 days | ||
| Law 1922–1923 | |||||||||
| (4) | Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) (2nd time) |
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|
Aberavon | 21 November 1922 (elected) |
28 August 1931 | 1923 | 8 years, 280 days | ||
| 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 | 1931 | 1 year, 59 days | MacDonald 1931–1935 | |
| 7 | George Lansbury (1859–1940) |
|
Bow and Bromley | 25 October 1932 (unopposed) |
8 October 1935 | ― | 2 years, 349 days | ||
| Baldwin 1935–1937 | |||||||||
| 8 | Clement Attlee (1883–1967) |
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|
Limehouse (1935–1950) Walthamstow West (1950–1955) |
25 October 1935 (elected) |
7 December 1955[5] | 1935 | 20 years, 44 days | ||
| 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 | ― | 7 days | ||
| 9 | Hugh Gaitskell (1906–1963) |
|
Leeds South | 14 December 1955 (elected) |
18 January 1963 (died in office) |
1959 | 7 years, 36 days | ||
| Macmillan 1957–1963 | |||||||||
| ― | George Brown[c] (1914–1985) |
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|
Belper | 18 January 1963 | 14 February 1963 | ― | 28 days | ||
| 10 | Harold Wilson (1916–1995) |
 |
Huyton | 14 February 1963 (elected) |
5 April 1976 | 1964 | 13 years, 50 days | ||
| Douglas-Home 1963–1964 | |||||||||
| Himself 1964–1970 | |||||||||
| Heath 1970–1974 | |||||||||
| Himself 1974–1976 | |||||||||
| 11 | James Callaghan (1912–2005) |
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|
Cardiff South East | 5 April 1976 (elected) |
10 November 1980 | 1979 | 4 years, 221 days | Himself 1976–1979 | |
| Thatcher 1979–1990 | |||||||||
| 12 | Michael Foot (1913–2010) |
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|
Ebbw Vale | 10 November 1980 (elected) |
2 October 1983 | 1983 | 2 years, 327 days | ||
| 13 | Neil Kinnock (b. 1942) |
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|
Islwyn | 2 October 1983 (elected) |
18 July 1992 | 1987 | 8 years, 291 days | ||
| Major 1990–1997 | |||||||||
| 14 | John Smith (1938–1994) |
|
Monklands East | 18 July 1992 (elected) |
12 May 1994 (died in office) |
― | 1 year, 299 days | ||
| ― | Margaret Beckett[c] (b. 1943) (acting) |
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|
Derby South | 12 May 1994 | 21 July 1994 | ― | 71 days | ||
| 15 | Tony Blair (b. 1953) |
|
Sedgefield | 21 July 1994 (elected) |
24 June 2007 | 1997 | 12 years, 341 days | ||
| Himself 1997–2007 | |||||||||
| 16 | Gordon Brown (b. 1951) |
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|
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath | 24 June 2007 (unopposed) |
11 May 2010 | 2010 | 2 years, 319 days | Himself 2007–2010 | |
| ― | Harriet Harman[c] (b. 1950) (acting: 1st time) |
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|
Camberwell and Peckham | 11 May 2010 | 25 September 2010 | ― | 138 days | Cameron 2010–2016 | |
| 17 | Ed Miliband (b. 1969) |
|
Doncaster North | 25 September 2010 (elected) |
8 May 2015 | 2015 | 4 years, 226 days | ||
| ― | Harriet Harman[c] (b. 1950) (acting: 2nd time) |
|
Camberwell and Peckham | 8 May 2015 | 12 September 2015 | ― | 128 days | ||
| 18 | Jeremy Corbyn (b. 1949) |
|
Islington North | 12 September 2015 (elected) |
4 April 2020 | 2017 | 4 years, 206 days | ||
| May 2016–2019 | |||||||||
| Johnson 2019–2022 | |||||||||
| 19 | Sir Keir Starmer (b. 1962) |
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|
Holborn and St Pancras | 4 April 2020 (elected) |
Incumbent | 2024 | 5 years, 0 days[d] | ||
| Truss Sep–Oct 2022 | |||||||||
| Sunak 2022–2024 | |||||||||
| Himself 2024–present | |||||||||
Timeline
[edit]
Leaders by time in office
[edit]This list ranks leaders of the Labour Party (not including acting leaders) by their time in office. Leaders that also served as Prime Minister are in bold.
| Rank | No. | Leader | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8th | Clement Attlee | 20 years, 44 days |
| 2 | 10th | Harold Wilson | 13 years, 50 days |
| 3 | 15th | Tony Blair | 12 years, 341 days |
| 4 | 4th | Ramsay MacDonald | 12 years, 96 days |
| 5 | 13th | Neil Kinnock | 8 years, 291 days |
| 6 | 9th | Hugh Gaitskell | 7 years, 36 days |
| 7 | 2nd | Arthur Henderson | 6 years, 164 days |
| 8 | 19th | Keir Starmer | 5 years, 0 days[d] |
| 9 | 17th | Ed Miliband | 4 years, 226 days |
| 10 | 11th | James Callaghan | 4 years, 221 days |
| 11 | 18th | Jeremy Corbyn | 4 years, 206 days |
| 12 | 5th | William Adamson | 3 years, 113 days |
| 13 | 7th | George Lansbury | 2 years, 349 days |
| 14 | 12th | Michael Foot | 2 years, 327 days |
| 15 | 16th | Gordon Brown | 2 years, 319 days |
| 16 | 1st | Keir Hardie | 2 years, 5 days |
| 17 | 14th | John Smith | 1 year, 299 days |
| 18 | 6th | J. R. Clynes | 1 year, 281 days |
| 19 | 3rd | George Barnes | 358 days |
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.
See also
[edit]
- History of the Labour Party (UK)
- Labour Party leadership of Keir Starmer
- Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)
- Leader of the Liberal Democrats
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.
- ^ a b As of 4 April 2025
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 NEC passes 20% MP nomination threshold for leadership contests". www.labourlist.org. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
- ^ 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
Further reading
[edit]- Clarke, Charles; James, Toby S. (2015). British Labour Leaders. London: Biteback.