1992 Labour Party leadership election

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1992 Labour Party leadership election
  1988 18 July 1992 (1992-07-18) 1994  
  Bryan Gould in 1992.jpg
Candidate John Smith Bryan Gould
Overall result91.0%9.0%
Affiliated unions 96.3%3.7%
Party members 98.0%2.0%
Labour MPs 77.1%22.9%

Leader before election

Neil Kinnock

Elected Leader

John Smith

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.

Contents

There were only two candidates in the election, with John Smith always the clear favourite to win. [1] The ballot took place on 18 July 1992 at the 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. Gordon Brown and Robin Cook were both seen as potential candidates, but did not stand.

John Smith was elected in a landslide victory with 91% of the vote. This was the last Labour Party leadership election which used the trade union block vote; the system was reformed under Smith's leadership to a one member, one vote system which was in place for the 1994 leadership election held two years later when Smith died suddenly of a heart attack.

The contest took place simultaneously with the 1992 Labour Party deputy leadership election.

Candidates

Result

Candidate [2] Affiliated block votes
(40%) [3]
CLP block votes
(30%)
PLP votes
(30%)
Overall result
Votes %Votes %Votes % %
John Smith Green check.svg4,82296.359798.022977.191.1
Bryan Gould 1873.7122.06822.99.0

John Smith was elected leader of the Labour Party with a clear majority.

Shortly after Black Wednesday in September 1992, Labour's lead in the opinion polls began to rise. By the time of his sudden death, Smith was widely predicted and expected to become prime minister at the next general election.

In the event, he would only serve two years before his death, which precipitated another leadership election.

Reactions

The Sunday Times described Tony Blair, the Shadow Employment Secretary at the time, as "The Leader Labour Missed" following Smith's win. [4] [ better source needed ] Blair would go on to be leader between 1994 and 2007.

See also

Notes

  1. "A Plea for Bloodshed". The Economist . 18 April 1992. p. 64.
  2. "Labour Party". Archived from the original on 1 February 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  3. Under the rules at the time of the contest, block votes were cast by delegates and the Parliamentary Party at the Labour Party Conference. Affiliated Unions held 40% of the votes, CLPs 30% and the PLP 30%.
  4. Byfield, Chris (14 October 2021). "Gordon Brown and John Smith fury at Tony Blair magazine cover". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2024.

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References