The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party is the second highest ranking politician in the British
Labour Party. The Deputy Leader also serves as the Deputy Chairperson of the Labour Party, and acts as Leader in the House in the event that the Leader cannot.
History
The
Labour Leader does not have the power to appoint or dismiss their Deputy. The post is instead directly elected by party members, registered supporters and affiliated supporters on a one-member-one-vote basis; before 2015, it was elected using the party's former electoral college system; and before 1981, it was elected by Labour MPs.
Recently, the office of
Deputy Prime Minister has been revived and held by senior politicians in the governing party. A previous Labour Deputy Leader,
John Prescott, held this post from 1997 to 2007. However, the Deputy Leader is essentially a party official and there is no constitutional link between the two roles. The former Labour
British Prime Minister,
Gordon Brown, announced on his formal election as Labour Leader that the newly elected Deputy Leader,
Harriet Harman, would instead become Party Chair. Brown subsequently appointed her
Leader of the House of Commons in
his first cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
.
In the event of a vacancy in the office of Leader when the Labour Party is in opposition, the Deputy Leader automatically becomes temporary Leader of the Party until a new leader is elected. If a vacancy in the leadership occurs while the Labour Party is in government, then the Cabinet, in consultation with the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, chooses a new leader, who serves until a new Leader is elected.
Labour Party Rule Book
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
2013, Chapter 4, clause II.2.E.i and iv. Such a vacancy has occurred only twice, when
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 ...
resigned as Leader and Prime Minister in 1976, and when
Tony Blair did so in 2007, but each remained in office until, respectively,
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...
and
Gordon Brown had been elected as successor, and so no Acting Leader was required to take over.
To date, the only Deputy Leaders who have gone on to be elected Leader of the Labour Party are
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 ...
and
Michael Foot.
Margaret Beckett briefly served as Labour Leader following the unexpected death of
John Smith
John Smith is a common personal name. It is also commonly used as a placeholder name and pseudonym, and is sometimes used in the United States and the United Kingdom as a term for an average person. It may refer to:
People
:''In chronological ...
in 1994.
Harriet Harman was Leader after
Gordon Brown resigned in 2010 and after
Ed Miliband resigned in 2015. Conversely,
John Robert Clynes served as Leader prior to becoming Deputy Leader.
List of deputy leaders of the Labour Party
Living former deputy leaders
There are five living deputy leaders. The most recent deputy leader to die was
Denis Healey
Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey, (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he ...
(1980–1983) on 3 October 2015.
See also
*
Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)
Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party is sometimes an official title of a senior Conservative politician of the United Kingdom.
Some are given this title officially by the party, such as Peter Lilley, while others are given the title as an uno ...
*
Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deputy Leader Of The Labour Party (UK)
Labour Party (UK)-related lists