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The1983 Labour Party leadership election was an election in the United Kingdom for theleadership of theLabour Party. It occurred when then leaderMichael Foot resigned after winning only 209 seats at the1983 general election, a loss of 60 seats compared to their performance at theprevious election four years earlier. This was the worst showing for Labour since1935 until2019.
Neil Kinnock was elected Leader with 71% of theElectoral College vote; runner-upRoy Hattersley stood simultaneously for Deputy Leader and was elected as Deputy.[1]
The election took place at the Labour Party Conference, with affiliated trade unions holding 40% of the votes, delegates fromConstituency Labour Parties holding 30% of the votes, and theParliamentary Labour Party holding the final 30% of the votes.
Soon after the 1983 election defeat it became clear that there was pressure on Foot to resign, withDavid Basnett, chairman of Trade Unions for Labour Victory which funded the campaign, arguing for a quick announcement on the future of the leadership saying "the sooner it is done the better". On 12 June 1983, three days after the general election,Clive Jenkins announced, on behalf of theAssociation of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs, that his union had nominated Foot for re-election. This allowed Foot to refuse and declare his intention to stand down.
Early speculation days after the election saw the possible candidates asDenis Healey,Neil Kinnock,Roy Hattersley,Gerald Kaufman andPeter Shore. However, almost immediately after Foot announced his intention to resign, Clive Jenkins announced that his union had switched its nomination to Kinnock, which he accepted. Other union leaders contributed support for Kinnock and Hattersley.Basnett stated onChannel 4 "I will tell you who I think ought to be the leadership team – it ought to be Kinnock and Hattersley" whileGavin Laird, general secretary of theAmalgamated Union of Engineering Workers, backed Hattersley as leader, Kinnock as his deputy.
Shortly after Foot's decision to stand-down became known,Denis Healey, theDeputy Leader of the Party, announced he too would resign from his position and would not seek to become party leader. However he confirmed he intended to continue to play a leading role in the House of Commons and that he would seekelection to the Shadow Cabinet.[2] Another potential candidate,Tony Benn was ruled out of the running as onlyMPs were eligible to stand for the position. Benn was out of Parliament, having lost his seat at the General Election a few days earlier.[2]
Of the four contenders who stood to replace Foot, Kinnock was favoured to win. The results of the election, held at the Labour Party Conference, were:
| Candidate | Affiliated block votes (40%)[3] | CLP block votes (30%) | PLP votes (30%) | Overall result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | % | ||
Neil Kinnock Y | 4,389 | 72.6 | 571 | 91.5 | 100 | 49.3 | 71.3 | |
| Roy Hattersley | 1,644 | 27.2 | 12 | 1.9 | 53 | 26.1 | 19.3 | |
| Eric Heffer | 7 | 0.1 | 41 | 6.6 | 29 | 14.3 | 6.3 | |
| Peter Shore | 5 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 21 | 10.3 | 3.1 | |
Neil Kinnock won the election with an outright majority andRoy Hattersleybecame his deputy, beatingMichael Meacher. Kinnock remained leader until 1992. Kinnock fought in two further elections, both unsuccessfully. He failed to beatMargaret Thatcher in the1987 general election despite gaining some seats. Kinnock resigned as leader following a fourth successiveLabour defeat at the hands ofJohn Major in the1992 election. He resigned as leader shortly afterwards, paving the way forJohn Smith.
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