1988 Labour Party deputy leadership election

Last updated

1988 Labour Party deputy leadership election
  1983 2 October 1988 (1988-10-02) 1992  
  Roy Hattersley 2012 cropped 2.jpg John Prescott official portrait (cropped).jpg No image.svg
Candidate Roy Hattersley John Prescott Eric Heffer
Overall result66.8%23.7%9.5%
Affiliated unions 78.3%21.6%0.0%
Party members 60.4%26.2%13.5%
Labour MPs 57.9%24.0%18.1%

Deputy Leader before election

Roy Hattersley

Elected Deputy Leader

Roy Hattersley

A deputy leadership election for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom took place on 2 October 1988 when John Prescott and Eric Heffer challenged Labour's incumbent Deputy Leader Roy Hattersley. Hattersley had served in the position since 1983.

Contents

The election was conducted using the Labour Party's Electoral College. Delegates at Labour Party conference voted in the election, with 40% of votes going to affiliated unions, 30% to constituency parties and 30% to the Parliamentary Labour Party.

The challenge to Hattersley's position was unsuccessful, and he retained the deputy leadership of the party by a wide margin. He served until 1992, when he resigned following Labour's defeat in the 1992 general election.

Candidates

Result

Candidate Affiliated block votes
(40%) [1]
CLP block votes
(30%)
PLP votes
(30%)
Overall result
Votes %Votes %Votes % %
Roy Hattersley Green check.svg4,42978.336760.412857.967.3
John Prescott 1,22321.615926.25324.023.7
Eric Heffer 10.08213.54018.19.4

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Hattersley</span> British Labour Party politician, author and journalist (born 1932)

Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley, is a British politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. A member of the Labour Party, he was MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook for over 32 years from 1964 to 1997, and served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Prescott</span> Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007

John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull East for 40 years, from 1970 to 2010. He was seen as the political link to the working class in a Labour Party increasingly led by modernising, middle-class professionals such as Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson and developed a reputation as a key conciliator in the often stormy relationship between Blair and Gordon Brown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labour Party Conference</span> Annual gathering of the British Labour Party

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 House of Commons is in recess, after each year's second Liberal Democrat Conference and before the Conservative Party Conference. The Labour Party Conference opens on a Sunday and finishes the following Wednesday, with an address by the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party; the Leader's address is usually on the Tuesday. In contrast to the Liberal Democrat Conference, where every party member attending its Conference, either in-person or online, has the right to vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system, or the Conservative Party Conference, which does not hold votes on party policy, at the Labour Party Conference, 50% of votes are allocated to affiliated organisations, and the other 50% to Constituency Labour Parties, but all voting in both categories is restricted to nominated representatives.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the governing body of the UK Labour Party, setting the overall strategic direction of the party and policy development. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affiliated trade unions, the Parliamentary Labour Party, constituency Labour parties (CLP), and socialist societies, as well as ex officio members such as the party Leader and Deputy Leader and several of their appointees.

In the parliamentary politics of the United Kingdom and Canada, one member, one vote (OMOV) is a method of selecting party leaders, and determining party policy, by a direct vote of the members of a political party. Traditionally, these objectives have been accomplished either by a party conference, party convention, vote of members of parliament, or some form of electoral college. OMOV backers claim that OMOV enhances the practice of democracy, because ordinary citizens will be able to participate. Detractors counter that allowing those unversed in the issues to help make decisions makes for bad governance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Heffer</span> British politician

Eric Samuel Heffer was a British socialist politician. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton from 1964 until his death. Due to his experience as a professional joiner, he made a speciality of the construction industry and its employment practices, but was also concerned with trade union issues in general. He changed his view on the European Common Market from being an outspoken supporter to an outspoken opponent, and served a brief period in government in the mid-1970s. His later career was dominated by his contribution to debates within the Labour Party and he defended the Liverpool City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 Labour Party leadership election</span> British Labour Party leadership election to replace John Smith

The 1994 Labour Party leadership election was held on 21 July 1994 following the death of the incumbent leader, John Smith, on 12 May. Tony Blair won the leadership and became Prime Minister after winning the 1997 general election.

The 1983 Labour Party leadership election was an election in the United Kingdom for the leadership of the Labour Party. It occurred when then leader Michael Foot resigned after winning only 209 seats at the 1983 general election, a loss of 60 seats compared to their performance at the previous election four years earlier. This was the worst showing for Labour since 1935 until 2019.

The 1992 Labour Party leadership election followed the Labour Party's failure to win the 1992 general election and the subsequent resignation of party leader Neil Kinnock.

The 1988 Labour Party leadership election saw Tony Benn, identified with the left wing of the British Labour Party, challenge the incumbent leader Neil Kinnock identified with the more moderate social democratic wing.

The 1963 Labour Party leadership election was held following the death of Hugh Gaitskell, party leader since 1955. He died on 18 January 1963 and was succeeded by deputy leader George Brown.

A deputy leadership election for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom took place in 1994, following the sudden death of incumbent leader John Smith. Margaret Beckett was the serving Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, having been elected in 1992, and following Smith's death became the acting leader. On 25 May she announced that a contest for the deputy leadership would take place alongside the leadership election, which allowed her to stand for both positions.

The 1981 Labour Party deputy leadership election took place on 27 September 1981 when Tony Benn unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent deputy leader Denis Healey at the party conference. Healey had been elected unopposed as deputy leader in the previous year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Cruddas</span> British Labour Party politician

Jonathan Cruddas is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dagenham and Rainham since 2010, and formerly for Dagenham between 2001 and 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadow Cabinet of Neil Kinnock</span> Shadow Cabinet of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1992

Neil Kinnock was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2 October 1983 to 18 July 1992. He convincingly defeated Roy Hattersley, Eric Heffer, and Peter Shore in the 1983 leadership election, which was prompted by Michael Foot's resignation following the disastrous general election result earlier that year. Kinnock's period as Leader encompassed the bulk of the Thatcher premiership and the first two years of the Major premiership. Kinnock resigned in 1992 after losing his second election as Leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadow Cabinet of Michael Foot</span>

Michael Foot was Leader of the Opposition from 4 November 1980, following his victory in the 1980 leadership election, to 2 October 1983, when he was replaced by Neil Kinnock at the 1983 leadership election. The 1980 leadership contest was triggered by James Callaghan's loss at the 1979 general election, and the 1983 contest by Foot's own disastrous defeat in the 1983 general election.

The 1992 Labour Party deputy leadership election followed the Labour Party's failure to win the 1992 general election and the subsequent resignation of deputy party leader Roy Hattersley. The ballot took place on 18 July 1992 at Labour Party Conference. Affiliated organisations had 40% of the vote, while Constituency Labour Parties and the Parliamentary Labour Party had 30% each in the electoral college.

A deputy leadership election for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom took place on 2 October 1983 to replace incumbent Deputy Leader Denis Healey. Healey had served in the position since 1980, becoming deputy leader at the same time that Michael Foot became party leader. Foot and Healey had both announced their resignations after the general election on 9 June 1983, in which a disastrous performance left the Labour Party with just 209 seats in parliament.

The 2016 Labour Party leadership election was called when a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party arose following criticism of his approach to the Remain campaign in the referendum on membership of the European Union and questions about his leadership of the party.

The 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election was triggered on 6 November 2019 by the resignation of Tom Watson as deputy leader of the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. It was won by Angela Rayner on the third ballot. It was held alongside the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, in which Keir Starmer was elected to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as leader.

References

  1. Under the rules at the time of the contest, block votes were cast by delegates and the Parliamentary Party at Labour Party Conference. Affiliated Unions held 40% of the votes, CLPs 30% and the PLP 30%.