Leader of the Labour Party (UK)

Leader of the Labour Party
Leader of the Labour Party
	Incumbent; Sir 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 December 11, 2024

The leader of the Labour Party is the highest position within the United Kingdom's Labour Party. The current holder of the position is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, who was elected to the position on 4 April 2020, following his victory in the party's leadership election.

The post of Leader of the Labour Party was officially created in 1922. Before this, between when Labour MPs were first elected in 1906 and the general election in 1922, when substantial gains were made, the post was known as Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party.^[1] In 1970, the positions of leader of the Labour Party and chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party were separated.

In 1921, John R. Clynes became the first leader of the Labour Party to have been born in England; all party leaders before him had been born in Scotland. In 1924, Ramsay MacDonald became the first Labour prime minister, leading a minority government which lasted nine months. Clement Attlee would become the first Labour leader to lead a majority government in 1945. The first to be born in Wales was Neil Kinnock, who was elected in 1983. The most recent party leader to not be from England is Gordon Brown, who was born in Scotland. The only Labour leaders not to contest a general election (excluding temporary acting leaders) are George Lansbury (who stood down) and John Smith (who died in office).^[a]

Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson, Tony Blair and Sir Keir Starmer remain the only four leaders to have led the party to victory in general elections. Out of the four, Blair is the most successful, having won 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 and October 1974. Attlee, the first leader to lead Labour to a majority won the general elections of 1945 and 1950. In addition, Labour also won the popular vote in 1951 by securing nearly 49 percent of the voteshare (however Labour won fewer seats than the Conservatives). Starmer, having been appointed after a poor party result in 2019, led a revival in fortunes and oversaw a landslide in 2024.

When the Labour Party is in government, as it currently is, the leader usually becomes the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, first lord of the Treasury and minister for the civil service, as well as appointing the cabinet. Concordantly, when the Labour Party is in opposition, the leader would usually act (as the second-largest party) as the leader of the Opposition, and chair the shadow cabinet.

Selection process

Unlike other British political party leaders, the Labour leader does not have the power to dismiss or appoint their deputy. Both the leader and deputy leader are elected by an alternative vote system. ^[2]

From 1980 to 2014 an electoral college was used, with a third of the 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.

The 2015 leadership election used a "one member, one vote" system, in which the votes of party members and members of affiliated organisations are counted equally. MPs' and MEPs' votes are not counted separately, although a candidate needs to receive the support of 10% of Labour 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 February 1906	22 January 1908	1906	1 year, 339 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, 157 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, 226 days
							May 2016–2019
							Johnson 2019–2022
19	Sir Keir Starmer (b. 1962)	Holborn and St Pancras	4 April 2020 (elected)	Incumbent	2024	4 years, 250 days^[d]	Johnson 2019–2022
							Truss Sep–Oct 2022
							Sunak 2022–2024
							Himself2024–present

Timeline

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 and Harold Wilson. 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.
↑ As of 10 December 2024

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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 proposals 'all-but guarantee leftwing Corbyn successor'". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
↑ 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