| Leader of the Labour Party | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| 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 |
Theleader of the Labour Party is the highest political office within theLabour Party of theUnited Kingdom. The current holder of the position isKeir Starmer, who was elected to the position on 4 April 2020, following his victory in that year'sleadership election. He has served asPrime Minister of the United Kingdom since the2024 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 the1906 general election and the1922 general election (the first election that saw substantial gains for the Labour Party), the position of leader was known asChairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).[1] Following the1970 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 inEngland; all leaders before him had been born inScotland. Following the1924 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 the1945 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 inWales. The only two party leaders not to have contest general elections (excluding acting leaders) areGeorge Lansbury, who resigned, andJohn 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 in1997,2001 (bothlandslide victories), and2005. Wilson won four general elections out of five contested, in1964,1966,February 1974 (forming a minority government) andOctober 1974. Attlee, the first leader to lead Labour to a majority in1945, also won in1950. Starmer, having been elected after a poor result in2019, led Labour to a landslide victory in2024. BothJames Callaghan andGordon Brown also served as prime minister, but did not win general elections.
When the Labour Party forms theGovernment of the United Kingdom, the leader is expected to serve as prime minister,First Lord of the Treasury andMinister for the Civil Service, as well as appointing and chairing theCabinet. Concordantly, when the party is inOpposition, the leader is expected to act as theLeader of the Opposition and to chair theShadow Cabinet.
The leader of the Labour Party, along with their deputy, is elected using analternative vote system.[2] Before 1980, the party leader was elected solely by members of theParliamentary Labour Party (PLP).
From 1980 to 2014 an electoral college was used to elect the leader, with a third of votes allocated to the party'sMPs andMEPs, a third to individual members of the Labour Party, and a third to individual members of all affiliated organisations, includingsocialist societies andtrade unions.
Beginning with the2015 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]
The PLP does not have the equivalent of theConservative Party's1922 Committee to call a bindingvote of confidence for the party leader;Jeremy Corbyn did not resign despite 80% of Labour MPs voting against him. A potential challenger to the current leader would need the support of 20% of MPs to call an election to choose a replacement; the current leader would automatically be on the ballot unless deciding otherwise.[4]
A list of leaders (including acting leaders) since 1906.[5]
| No. | Leader (birth–death) | Constituency | Took office | Left office | Elections fought | Tenure | Prime Minister(term) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keir Hardie (1856–1915) |  | Merthyr Tydfil | 17 January 1906 | 22 January 1908 | 1906 | 2 years, 5 days | Campbell-Bannerman1905–1908 | |
| 2 | Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) (1st time) |  | Barnard Castle | 22 January 1908 | 14 February 1910 | Jan 1910 | 2 years, 24 days | ||
| Asquith1908–1916 | |||||||||
| 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 | ||
| Lloyd George1916–1922 | |||||||||
| 5 | William Adamson (1863–1936) |  | West Fife | 24 October 1917 | 14 February 1921 | 1918 | 3 years, 113 days | ||
| 6 | J. R. Clynes (1869–1949) | .jpg) | Manchester Platting | 14 February 1921 | 21 November 1922 | 1922 | 1 year, 281 days | ||
| Law1922–1923 | |||||||||
| (4) | Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) (2nd time) | .jpg) | Aberavon | 21 November 1922 (elected) | 28 August 1931 | 1923 | 8 years, 280 days | ||
| Baldwin1923–1924 | |||||||||
| Himself1924 | |||||||||
| Baldwin1924–1929 | |||||||||
| 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 | MacDonald1931–1935 | |
| 7 | George Lansbury (1859–1940) |  | Bow and Bromley | 25 October 1932 (unopposed) | 8 October 1935 | ― | 2 years, 349 days | ||
| Baldwin1935–1937 | |||||||||
| 8 | Clement Attlee (1883–1967) | .jpg) | Limehouse (1935–1950) Walthamstow West (1950–1955) | 25 October 1935 (elected) | 7 December 1955[6] | 1935 | 20 years, 44 days | ||
| Chamberlain1937–1940 | |||||||||
| Churchill1940–1945 | |||||||||
| Himself1945–1951 | |||||||||
| Churchill1951–1955 | |||||||||
| Eden1955–1957 | |||||||||
| ― | 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 | ||
| Macmillan1957–1963 | |||||||||
| ― | George Brown[c] (1914–1985) | .jpg) | Belper | 18 January 1963 | 14 February 1963 | ― | 28 days | ||
| 10 | Harold Wilson (1916–1995) |  | Huyton | 14 February 1963 (elected) | 5 April 1976 | 1964 | 13 years, 50 days | ||
| Douglas-Home1963–1964 | |||||||||
| Himself1964–1970 | |||||||||
| Heath1970–1974 | |||||||||
| Himself1974–1976 | |||||||||
| 11 | James Callaghan (1912–2005) | .jpg) | Cardiff South East | 5 April 1976 (elected) | 10 November 1980 | 1979 | 4 years, 221 days | Himself1976–1979 | |
| Thatcher1979–1990 | |||||||||
| 12 | Michael Foot (1913–2010) | .jpg) | Ebbw Vale | 10 November 1980 (elected) | 2 October 1983 | 1983 | 2 years, 327 days | ||
| 13 | Neil Kinnock (b. 1942) | .jpg) | Islwyn | 2 October 1983 (elected) | 18 July 1992 | 1987 | 8 years, 291 days | ||
| Major1990–1997 | |||||||||
| 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) | .jpg) | Derby South | 12 May 1994 | 21 July 1994 | ― | 71 days | ||
| 15 | Tony Blair (b. 1953) |  | Sedgefield | 21 July 1994 (elected) | 24 June 2007 | 1997 | 12 years, 341 days | ||
| Himself1997–2007 | |||||||||
| 16 | Gordon Brown (b. 1951) | .jpg) | 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 | Cameron2010–2016 | |
| 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) | .jpg) | 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 | 4 years, 206 days | ||
| May2016–2019 | |||||||||
| Johnson2019–2022 | |||||||||
| 19 | SirKeir Starmer (b. 1962) | .jpg) | Holborn and St Pancras | 4 April 2020 (elected) | Incumbent | 2024 | 5 years, 233 days[d] | ||
| TrussSep–Oct 2022 | |||||||||
| Sunak 2022–2024 | |||||||||
| Himself2024–present | |||||||||
This list ranks leaders of the Labour Party (not including acting leaders) by their time in office. Leaders that also served asPrime Minister are inbold.
| 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, 233 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 |
It is not uncommon for a retired leader of the Labour Party to be granted apeerage upon their retirement, particularly if they served asprime minister; examples of this includeClement Attlee,Harold Wilson andJames Callaghan. However,Neil Kinnock was also elevated to theHouse of Lords, despite never being prime minister, andMichael Foot declined a similar offer.
