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TheParliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is theparliamentary group of theLabour Party in the BritishHouse of Commons. The group comprises the Labour members of parliament as a collective body.[1] Commentators on theBritish Constitution sometimes draw a distinction between the Labour Party (which was created outside Parliament and later achieved office) and theConservative andLiberal parties (which began as parliamentary factions). The term Parliamentary Labour Party refers to the party in Parliament, whereas the term Labour Party refers to the entire Labour Party, the parliamentary element of which is the PLP.
A similar body for the Conservative Party is the1922 Committee.
An organisation for former members, thePLP in exile, was established following the2010 general election.[2]
The PLP holds regular meetings behind closed doors to question the Leader and to discuss its concerns.
Labour MPs elect three of their number to Labour'sNational Executive Committee.[3]
Originally, the Leader of the Labour Party was elected by the PLP. Now, however, the party operates on aone member, one vote system, where all members are awarded a single vote, as well as affiliated organizations (trade unions andsocialist societies) and temporary registered supporters.Instant-runoff voting (the "Alternative Vote") is used to conduct the election. Labour MPs retain the power to trigger an extraordinary or "special"Labour Party Conference to choose a new leader if they lose confidence in their existing leader.[4]
The Chair of the PLP chairs meetings of the Parliamentary party. They are elected by Labour MPs at the start of each annual session of Parliament. By tradition, only elections at the start of each Parliament, following ageneral election, are competitive.
From 1921 to 1970, the Chair of the PLP was also the leader of the party as a whole; before 1921, leadership of the party was arguably split between the Chairman of the PLP, theGeneral Secretary and theParty Chairman. When the leaders of the Labour Party joined coalition governments during theFirst andSecond World Wars, an acting chair was appointed to lead the rump of the party in Opposition. When the Party was in government, a liaison committee was elected to facilitate communications between the cabinet and Labourbackbenchers – the chair of this committee also chaired meetings of the PLP as a whole during these periods. In 1970, the positions of Leader of the Labour Party and Chair of the PLP were permanently split.
| Leader | Tenure | Liaison Committee | Tenure | Opposition | Tenure | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keir Hardie | 1906–1908 | ||||||
| Arthur Henderson | 1908–1910 | ||||||
| George Barnes | 1910–1911 | ||||||
| Ramsay MacDonald | 1911–1914 | ||||||
| Arthur Henderson | 1914–1917 | John Hodge | 1915–16 | ||||
| George Wardle | 1916–17 | ||||||
| William Adamson | 1917–1921 | ||||||
| J. R. Clynes | 1921–1922 | ||||||
| Ramsay MacDonald | 1922–1931 | Robert Smillie | 1924 | ||||
| Harry Snell | 1929–30 | ||||||
| James Barr | 1930–31 | ||||||
| Arthur Henderson | 1931 | ||||||
| George Lansbury | 1931–1935 | ||||||
| Clement Attlee | 1935–1955 | Neil Maclean | 1945–46 | Hastings Lees-Smith | 1940–1941 | ||
| Maurice Webb | 1946–1950 | Frederick Pethick-Lawrence | 1942 | ||||
| Glenvil Hall | 1950–51 | Arthur Greenwood | 1942–1945 | ||||
| Hugh Gaitskell | 1955–1963 | ||||||
| Harold Wilson | 1963–1970 | Manny Shinwell | 1964–1967 | ||||
| Douglas Houghton | 1967–1970 | ||||||
| Chairman | Tenure | ||||||
| Douglas Houghton | 1970–1974 | ||||||
| Ian Mikardo | 1974 | ||||||
| Cledwyn Hughes, Baron Cledwyn of Penrhos | 1974–1979 | ||||||
| Fred Willey | 1979–1981 | ||||||
| Jack Dormand | 1981–1987 | ||||||
| Stan Orme | 1987–1992 | ||||||
| Doug Hoyle | 1992–1997 | ||||||
| Clive Soley | 1997–2001 | ||||||
| Jean Corston | 2001–2005 | ||||||
| Ann Clwyd | 2005–2006 | ||||||
| Tony Lloyd | 2006–2012 | ||||||
| David Watts | 2012–2015 | ||||||
| John Cryer | 2015–2024 | ||||||
| Jessica Morden | 2024–present | ||||||
There is also a deputy chair.
Other groups have been established within the PLP, such as the Women's PLP and the LGBT+ PLP.
Labour and Co-operative MPs form part of the PLP, though they also meet (together with Labour Co-op members of the House of Lords) as the Co-operative Parliamentary Group, which has its own chair.
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