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The1956 Labour Party deputy leadership election took place on 2 February 1956, following the resignation of sitting deputy leaderHerbert Morrison. Morrison resigned after his heavy defeat in theleadership election in December 1955, but the party decided not to hold a deputy leadership election until the new year.[1]
Herbert Morrison resigned as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party after a humiliating third-place defeat behind the winnerHugh Gaitskell and the runner-upAneurin Bevan in the1955 Labour Party leadership election. During this contest the Labour Party was divided between Bevanite andGaitskellite wings.[2][3]
| Only ballot: 2 February 1956 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Jim Griffiths | 141 | 56.0 | |
| Aneurin Bevan | 111 | 44.0 | |
| Jim Griffiths elected | |||
The day after the result was announced, the political correspondent ofThe Glasgow Herald reported that "Mr Griffiths's success was a foregone conclusion", but Bevan attracted a much higher vote than had been expected. He speculated that if Bevan could "keep his personal animosities under control, and restrain his tendency to quarrel with colleagues in public" he would be "a formidable contender" for the post of deputy leader if he were to challenge Griffiths the following year.[4]
As a result of Bevan's performance, his rival Gaitskell appointed him to his Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Colonial Secretary. He also won the election as party treasurer over George Brown in October 1956. One month later, he was promoted toShadow Foreign Secretary for his fierce denunciation of theSuez Crisis. Afterwards the Bevanites and the Gaitskellites would increasingly reconcile, and Bevan was elected unopposed in the next deputy leadership election after Griffiths' retirement in 1959.[5]
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