UK politics The United Kingdom is a unitary state with devolution that is governed within the framework of a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy in which the monarch, currently Charles III, King of the United Kingdom, is the head ...

, the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamentar ...

of the Labour Party in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, i.e. Labour MPs as a collective body. Commentators on the

British Constitution The constitution of the United Kingdom or British constitution comprises the written and unwritten arrangements that establish the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a political body. Unlike in most countries, no attempt ...

sometimes draw a distinction between the Labour Party (which was created outside Parliament and later achieved office) and the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

parties (which began as parliamentary factions). The term Parliamentary Labour Party refers to the party in Parliament, whereas the term Labour Party refers to the entire Labour Party, the parliamentary element of which is the PLP. A similar body for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

is the 1922 Committee. An organisation for former members, the ''PLP in exile'', was established after the 2010 general election.

Role

The PLP holds regular meetings behind closed doors to question the Leader and to discuss its concerns. Labour MPs elect three of their number to Labour's

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

. Originally, the Leader of the Labour Party was elected by the PLP. Now, however, the party operates on a one member, one vote system, where all members are awarded a single vote, as well as affiliated organizations (

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

and

socialist societies A socialist society is a membership organisation that is affiliated with the Labour Party in the UK. The best-known and oldest socialist society is the Fabian Society, founded in 1884, some years before the creation of the Labour Party itself ( ...

) and temporary registered supporters.

Instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referred to as ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the Un ...

(the "Alternative Vote") is used to conduct the election. Labour MPs retain the power to trigger an extraordinary or "special"

Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conference season when the ...

to choose a new leader if they lose confidence in their existing leader.This would require 20% of the PLP to nominate a named member of the PLP prior to the annual party conference.

Chair

The Chair of the PLP chairs meetings of the Parliamentary party. They are elected by Labour MPs at the start of each annual session of Parliament. By tradition, only elections at the start of each Parliament, following a

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, are competitive. From 1921 to 1970, the Chair of the PLP was also the leader of the party as a whole (before 1921, leadership of the party was arguably split between the Chairman of the PLP, the

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

and the Party Chairman). When the leaders of the Labour Party joined coalition governments during the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

s, an acting chair was appointed to lead the rump of the party in Opposition. When the Party was in government, a liaison committee was elected to facilitate communications between the cabinet and Labour

backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

s – the chair of this committee also chaired meetings of the PLP as a whole during these periods. In 1970, the positions of Leader of the Labour Party and Chair of the PLP were permanently split. *

Keir Hardie James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party, and served as its first parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. Hardie was born in Newhouse, Lanarkshire. ...

(1906–1908) *

Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of th ...

(1908–1910) * George Barnes (1910–11) * Ramsay MacDonald (1911–1914) *

(1914–1917) **

John Hodge John Hodge may refer to: *John R. Hodge (1893–1963), United States Army officer *John E. Hodge (1914–1996), American chemist *John Hodge (politician) (1855–1937), British politician *John Hodge (engineer) (1929–2021), British-born aerospace ...

(1915–16) – in opposition **

George Wardle George James Wardle CH (15 May 1865 – 18 June 1947) was a British politician. Biography He was born on 15 May 1865. He was editor of the ''Railway Review'' and, in 1906, was elected a Labour Member of Parliament for Stockport. At the 191 ...

(1916–17) – in opposition *

William Adamson William Adamson (2 April 1863 – 23 February 1936) was a Scottish trade unionist and Labour politician. He was Leader of the Labour Party from 1917 to 1921 and served as Secretary of State for Scotland in 1924 and during 1929–1931 in the ...

(1917–1921) * J. R. Clynes (1921–22) * Ramsay MacDonald (1922–1931) **

Robert Smillie Robert Smillie (17 March 1857 – 16 February 1940) was a Scottish trade unionist and Labour Party politician. He was a leader of the coal miners, and played a central role in moving support from the miners away from the Liberal Party to the L ...

(1924) – Liaison Committee **

Harry Snell Henry Snell, 1st Baron Snell (1 April 1865 – 21 April 1944), was a British socialist politician and campaigner. He served in government under Ramsay MacDonald and Winston Churchill, and as the Labour Party's leader in the House of Lords ...

(1929–30) – Liaison Committee ** James Barr (1930–31) – Liaison Committee *

(1931) *

George Lansbury George Lansbury (22 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician and social reformer who led the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935. Apart from a brief period of ministerial office during the Labour government of 1929–31, he spe ...

(1931–1935) *

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...

(1935–1955) **

Hastings Lees-Smith Hastings Bertrand Lees-Smith PC (26 January 1878 – 18 December 1941) was a British Liberal turned Labour politician who was briefly in the cabinet as President of the Board of Education in 1931. He was the acting Leader of the Opposition a ...

(1940–1942) – in opposition ** Frederick Pethick-Lawrence (1942) – in opposition **

Arthur Greenwood Arthur Greenwood, (8 February 1880 – 9 June 1954) was a British politician. A prominent member of the Labour Party from the 1920s until the late 1940s, Greenwood rose to prominence within the party as secretary of its research department f ...

(1942–1945) – in opposition **

Neil Maclean Neil Maclean (1875 – 12 September 1953) was a Scottish socialist and an Independent Labour Party and later Labour Party Member of Parliament for Govan. Maclean was the first Secretary of the Socialist Labour Party, but was expelled in 1908. ...

(1945–46) – Liaison Committee ** Maurice Webb (1946–1950) – Liaison Committee **

Glenvil Hall 150px, Hall, 1951 William George Glenvil Hall (4 April 1887 – 13 October 1962) was a British barrister and Labour politician. He was elected at the 1929 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth Central, but lost his s ...

(1950–51) – Liaison Committee * Hugh Gaitskell (1955–1963) *

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

(1963–1970) **

Emanuel Shinwell Emanuel Shinwell, Baron Shinwell, (18 October 1884 – 8 May 1986) was a British politician who served as a government minister under Ramsay MacDonald and Clement Attlee. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) f ...

(1964–1967) – Liaison Committee **

Douglas Houghton Arthur Leslie Noel Douglas Houghton, Baron Houghton of Sowerby, (11 August 1898 – 2 May 1996) was a British Labour politician. He was the last British Cabinet minister born in the 19th century. After he retired in 1967, every Cabinet minist ...

(1967–1970) – Liaison Committee *

(1970–1974) *

Ian Mikardo Ian Mikardo (9 July 1908 – 6 May 1993), commonly known as Mik, was a British Labour Member of Parliament. An ardent socialist and a Zionist, he remained a backbencher throughout his four decades in the House of Commons. He was a member of Nat ...

(1974) *

Cledwyn Hughes Cledwyn Hughes, Baron Cledwyn of Penrhos, (14 September 1916 – 22 February 2001) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, usually associated with the moderate wing of the party. He was also regarded, particularly in later years, as a non-politic ...

(1974–1979) *

Fred Willey Frederick Thomas Willey (13 November 1910 – 13 December 1987) was a British Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) representing a Sunderland constituency for 38 years, from 1945 to 1983. Early life Willey was educated a ...

(1979–1981) *

Jack Dormand John Donkin Dormand, Baron Dormand of Easington (27 August 1919 – 18 December 2003) was a British educationist and Labour Party politician from the coal mining area of Easington in County Durham, in the north-east of England. He was Memb ...

(1981–1987) *

Stanley Orme Stanley Orme, Baron Orme, PC (5 April 1923 – 27 April 2005) was a British left-wing Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1964 to 1997, and served as a cabinet minister in the 1970s. Early life Stan Orme was born i ...

(1987–1992) * Doug Hoyle (1992–1997) *

Clive Soley Clive Stafford Soley, Baron Soley (born 7 May 1939) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2005, and has since then served as a Member of the House of Lords. Early life He w ...

(1997–2001) *

Jean Corston Jean Ann Corston, Baroness Corston, PC (born 5 May 1942) is a British Labour politician. Early life Jean Ann Parkin went to Yeovil Girls' High School (now the Westfield Community School) on Stiby Road in Yeovil and the Somerset College of A ...

(2001–2005) * Ann Clwyd (2005–2006) *

Tony Lloyd Sir Anthony Joseph Lloyd (born 25 February 1950) is a British Labour Party politician who has discontinuously served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1983, currently as the MP for Rochdale since 2017. He was MP for Stretford from 1983 to 1 ...

(2006–2012) * David Watts (2012–2015) *

John Cryer John Robert Cryer (born 11 April 1964) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leyton and Wanstead since the general election in May 2010. He was previously MP for Hornchurch from 1997 until his d ...

(2015–present)

Other roles and groups

There is also a deputy chair. Other groups have been established within the PLP, such as the Women's PLP and the LGBT+ PLP.

References

{{Authority control Organisation of the Labour Party (UK) Parliament of the United Kingdom

Role

Chair

Other roles and groups

See also

References