Leader of the Labour Party (UK)

Leader of the Labour Party
Leader of the Labour Party
	Incumbent; Keir Starmer ; since 4 April 2020
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

Last updated August 28, 2025

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

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)

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
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	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
(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)	Manchester Platting	14 February 1921	21 November 1922	1922	1 year, 281 days
6	J. R. Clynes (1869–1949)	Manchester Platting	14 February 1921	21 November 1922	1922	1 year, 281 days	Law 1922–1923
(4)	Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) (2nd time)	Aberavon	21 November 1922 (elected)	28 August 1931	1923 1924 1929	8 years, 280 days	Law 1922–1923
							Baldwin 1923–1924
							Himself1924
							Baldwin 1924–1929
							Himself1929–1931
(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)	Limehouse (1935–1950) Walthamstow West (1950–1955)	25 October 1935 (elected)	7 December 1955^[5]	1935 1945 1950 1951 1955	20 years, 44 days	Baldwin 1935–1937
							Chamberlain 1937–1940
							Churchill 1940–1945
							Himself1945–1951
							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
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)	Belper	18 January 1963	14 February 1963	―	28 days
10	Harold Wilson (1916–1995)	Huyton	14 February 1963 (elected)	5 April 1976	1964 1966 1970 Feb 1974 Oct 1974	13 years, 50 days
							Douglas-Home 1963–1964
							Himself1964–1970
							Heath 1970–1974
							Himself1974–1976
11	James Callaghan (1912–2005)	Cardiff South East	5 April 1976 (elected)	10 November 1980	1979	4 years, 221 days	Himself1976–1979
11	James Callaghan (1912–2005)	Cardiff South East	5 April 1976 (elected)	10 November 1980	1979	4 years, 221 days	Thatcher 1979–1990
12	Michael Foot (1913–2010)	Ebbw Vale	10 November 1980 (elected)	2 October 1983	1983	2 years, 327 days
13	Neil Kinnock (b. 1942)	Islwyn	2 October 1983 (elected)	18 July 1992	1987 1992	8 years, 291 days
13	Neil Kinnock (b. 1942)	Islwyn	2 October 1983 (elected)	18 July 1992	1987 1992	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)	Derby South	12 May 1994	21 July 1994	―	71 days
15	Tony Blair (b. 1953)	Sedgefield	21 July 1994 (elected)	24 June 2007	1997 2001 2005	12 years, 341 days
15	Tony Blair (b. 1953)	Sedgefield	21 July 1994 (elected)	24 June 2007	1997 2001 2005	12 years, 341 days	Himself1997–2007
16	Gordon Brown (b. 1951)	Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath	24 June 2007 (unopposed)	11 May 2010	2010	2 years, 319 days	Himself2007–2010
―	Harriet Harman ^[c] (b. 1950) (acting: 1st time)	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 2019	4 years, 206 days
							May 2016–2019
							Johnson 2019–2022
19	Sir Keir Starmer (b. 1962)	Holborn and St Pancras	4 April 2020 (elected)	Incumbent	2024	5 years, 145 days^[d]	Johnson 2019–2022
							Truss Sep–Oct 2022
							Sunak 2022–2024
							Himself2024–present

Timeline

Leaders by time in office

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, 145 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

Retirement

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, Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. However, Neil Kinnock was also elevated to the House of Lords, despite never being prime minister, and Michael Foot declined a similar offer.

Notes

↑ 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.
1 2 3 4 5 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.
1 2 As of 27 August 2025

References

↑ 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. 25 September 2021. 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