1961 Labour Party leadership election

← 1960 2 November 1961 (1961-11-02) 1963 →

Candidate Hugh Gaitskell Tony Greenwood Popular vote 171 59 Percentage 74.4% 25.7%

Leader before election Hugh Gaitskell Elected Leader Hugh Gaitskell

The1961 Labour Party leadership election was held when, for the second year in succession, the incumbent leader was challenged for re-election. Normally the annual re-election of the leader had been a formality.

The challenge followed factional in-fighting over issues like nuclear disarmament. The leader favoured the retention of nuclear weapons by the UK, whereas the left wing of the party supported theCampaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Two candidates were nominated.

1. The left-wing candidate the previous year had beenHarold Wilson. In 1961 the candidate was a less well-known political figure,Tony Greenwood (1911–1982), then MP for theLancashire constituency ofRossendale. He had been an MP since 1946 and was the son ofArthur Greenwood (1880–1954), who had been a Labour leadership candidate in 1935.
2. The incumbent right-wing leader of the party wasHugh Gaitskell (1906–1963), who had beenChancellor of the Exchequer in 1950–51. Gaitskell had been MP forLeeds South since 1945 and party leader since1955.

The result of the only ballot of Labour MPs on 2 November was as follows:

• Butler, David; Butler, Gareth (2000),Twentieth-Century British Political Facts 1900–2000 (8th ed.), Macmillan Press
• Stenton, M.; Lees, S., eds. (1981),Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945–1979, Harvester Press

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