1992 Labour Party leadership election

Last updated

1992 Labour Party leadership election
  1988 18 July 1992 (1992-07-18) 1994  
  3x4.svg Bryan Gould in 1992.jpg
Candidate John Smith Bryan Gould
Overall result91.0%9.0%
Affiliated unions 96.3%3.7%
Party members 98.0%2.0%
Labour MPs 77.1%22.9%

Leader before election

Neil Kinnock

Elected Leader

John Smith

The 1992 Labour Party leadership election followed the Labour Party's failure to win the 1992 general election and the subsequent resignation of party leader Neil Kinnock.

Contents

There were only two candidates in the election, with John Smith always the clear favourite to win. [1] The ballot took place on 18 July 1992 at the Labour Party conference. Affiliated organisations had 40% of the vote, while Constituency Labour Parties and the Parliamentary Labour Party had 30% each in the electoral college. Gordon Brown and Robin Cook were both seen as potential candidates, but did not stand.

John Smith was elected in a landslide victory with 91% of the vote. This was the last Labour Party leadership election which used the trade union block vote; the system was reformed under Smith's leadership to a one member, one vote system which was in place for the 1994 leadership election held two years later when Smith died suddenly of a heart attack.

The contest took place simultaneously with the 1992 Labour Party deputy leadership election.

Candidates

Result

Candidate [2] Affiliated block votes
(40%) [3]
CLP block votes
(30%)
PLP votes
(30%)
Overall result
Votes %Votes %Votes % %
John Smith Green check.svg4,82296.359798.022977.191.1
Bryan Gould 1873.7122.06822.99.0

John Smith was elected leader of the Labour Party with a clear majority.

Shortly after Black Wednesday in September 1992, Labour's lead in the opinion polls began to rise. By the time of his sudden death, Smith was widely predicted and expected to become prime minister at the next general election.

In the event, he would only serve two years before his death, which precipitated another leadership election.

Reactions

The Sun described Tony Blair, the Shadow Employment Secretary at the time, as "The Leader Labour Missed" following Smith's win. [4] Blair would go on to be leader between 1994 and 2007.

See also

Notes

  1. "A Plea for Bloodshed". The Economist . 18 April 1992. p. 64.
  2. "Labour Party". Archived from the original on 1 February 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  3. Under the rules at the time of the contest, block votes were cast by delegates and the Parliamentary Party at the Labour Party Conference. Affiliated Unions held 40% of the votes, CLPs 30% and the PLP 30%.
  4. Byfield, Chris (14 October 2021). "Gordon Brown and John Smith fury at Tony Blair magazine cover". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2024.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1997 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a landslide by the Labour Party led by Tony Blair, achieving a 179-seat majority and a total of 418 seats, the highest ever won by Labour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Hattersley</span> British Labour Party politician, author and journalist (born 1932)

Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley, is a British politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. A member of the Labour Party, he was MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook for over 32 years from 1964 to 1997, and served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Smith (Labour Party leader)</span> British politician (1938–1994)

John Smith was a British Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his death from a heart attack in May 1994. He was also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Monklands East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Beckett</span> British Labour politician (born 1943)

Dame Margaret Mary Beckett is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby South since 1983. A member of the Labour Party, she became Britain's first female Foreign Secretary in 2006 and served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Tony Blair throughout his tenure. Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1992 to 1994, Beckett briefly served as Leader of the Opposition and Acting Leader of the Labour Party following John Smith's death in 1994.

The Socialist Campaign Group, also simply known as the Campaign Group, is a UK parliamentary caucus of the Labour Party including Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The group also includes some MPs who formerly represented Labour in Parliament but have had the whip withdrawn or been expelled from the party.

James Marshall was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.

In the parliamentary politics of the United Kingdom and Canada, one member, one vote (OMOV) is a method of selecting party leaders, and determining party policy, by a direct vote of the members of a political party. Traditionally, these objectives have been accomplished either by a party conference, party convention, vote of members of parliament, or some form of electoral college. OMOV backers claim that OMOV enhances the practice of democracy, because ordinary citizens will be able to participate. Detractors counter that allowing those unversed in the issues to help make decisions makes for bad governance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 Labour Party leadership election</span> British Labour Party leadership election to replace John Smith

The 1994 Labour Party leadership election was held on 21 July 1994 following the death of the incumbent leader, John Smith, on 12 May. Tony Blair won the leadership and became Prime Minister after winning the 1997 general election.

The 1983 Labour Party leadership election was an election in the United Kingdom for the leadership of the Labour Party. It occurred when then leader Michael Foot resigned after winning only 209 seats at the 1983 general election, a loss of 60 seats compared to their performance at the previous election four years earlier. This was the worst showing for Labour since 1935 until 2019.

The 1988 Labour Party leadership election saw Tony Benn, identified with the left wing of the British Labour Party, challenge the incumbent leader Neil Kinnock identified with the more moderate social democratic wing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the 2007 Labour Party leadership election (UK)</span>

This is a timeline of events relating to the final years of Tony Blair's tenure as Leader of the Labour Party and prime minister and the leadership elections to find replacements for him and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, from his announcement that he would not lead Labour into a fourth general election, concluding with Gordon Brown becoming prime minister.

A deputy leadership election for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom took place in 1994, following the sudden death of incumbent leader John Smith. Margaret Beckett was the serving Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, having been elected in 1992, and following Smith's death became the acting leader. On 25 May she announced that a contest for the deputy leadership would take place alongside the leadership election, which allowed her to stand for both positions.

The 1981 Labour Party deputy leadership election took place on 27 September 1981 when Tony Benn unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent deputy leader Denis Healey at the party conference. Healey had been elected unopposed as deputy leader in the previous year.

A deputy leadership election for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom took place on 2 October 1988 when John Prescott and Eric Heffer challenged Labour's incumbent Deputy Leader Roy Hattersley. Hattersley had served in the position since 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leader of the Labour Party (UK)</span> Elected head of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom

The leader of the Labour Party is the highest position within the United Kingdom's Labour Party. The current holder of the position is Keir Starmer, who was elected to the position on 4 April 2020, following his victory in the party's leadership election.

The 1992 Labour Party deputy leadership election followed the Labour Party's failure to win the 1992 general election and the subsequent resignation of deputy party leader Roy Hattersley. The ballot took place on 18 July 1992 at Labour Party Conference. Affiliated organisations had 40% of the vote, while Constituency Labour Parties and the Parliamentary Labour Party had 30% each in the electoral college.

A deputy leadership election for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom took place on 2 October 1983 to replace incumbent Deputy Leader Denis Healey. Healey had served in the position since 1980, becoming deputy leader at the same time that Michael Foot became party leader. Foot and Healey had both announced their resignations after the general election on 9 June 1983, in which a disastrous performance left the Labour Party with just 209 seats in parliament.

The 2015 Labour Party leadership election was triggered by the resignation of Ed Miliband as Leader of the Labour Party on 8 May 2015, following the party's defeat at the 2015 general election. Harriet Harman, the Deputy Leader, became Acting Leader but announced that she would stand down following the leadership election. It was won by Jeremy Corbyn in the first round. Coterminous with the leadership election, in the 2015 Labour Party deputy leadership election, Tom Watson was elected to succeed Harman as deputy leader.

The 2015 Labour Party deputy leadership election was triggered on 8 May 2015 by the resignation of Harriet Harman as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party of the United Kingdom following the party's defeat at the 2015 General Election. Harman, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, became Acting Leader following Leader Ed Miliband's resignation. Harman announced on the same day that she would step down as Deputy Leader, with her resignation taking effect when the new Leader and Deputy Leader are elected.

The 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election was triggered on 6 November 2019 by the resignation of Tom Watson as deputy leader of the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. It was won by Angela Rayner on the third ballot. It was held alongside the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, in which Keir Starmer was elected to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as leader.

References