Leader of the Labour Party (UK)
| Leader of the Labour Party | |
|---|---|
| Precursor | Chair of the PLP |
| Inaugural holder | Keir Hardie |
| Formation | 17 January 1906 |
| Deputy | Angela Rayner MP |
The Leader of the Labour Party is the leading politician within the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. Since 4 April 2020, Keir Starmer is leader. He represents the constituency of Holborn and St Pancras.
The post of Leader of the Labour Party was officially created in 1922. Before this time, between when Labour MPs were first elected in 1906 and the election in 1922, when substantial gains were made, the post was known as Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party.[1]
Leaders of the Labour Party 2007-Present
[change | change source]A list of leaders (including acting leaders) since 1906.[2][3][4][5]
| No. | Leader
(birth–death) |
Constituency | Took office | Left office | Prime Minister (term) | Monarch
(Reign) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keir Hardie(1856–1915) | 
|
Merthyr Tydfil | 17 February 1906 | 22 January 1908 | Henry Campbell-Bannerman 1905–1908 | Edward VII (1901–1910)
| |
| 2 | Arthur Henderson(1863–1935)(1st time) | 
|
Barnard Castle | 22 January 1908 | 14 February 1910 | |||
| Herbert Asquith 1908–1916 | ||||||||
| 3 | George Barnes
(1859–1940) |
|
Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown | 14 February 1910 | 6 February 1911 | George V(1910–1936)
| ||
| 4 | Ramsay MacDonald(1866–1937)(1st time) | 
|
Leicester | 6 February 1911 | 5 August 1914 | |||
| (2) | Arthur Henderson(1863–1935)(2nd time) |
|
Barnard Castle | 5 August 1914 | 24 October 1917 | |||
| David Lloyd George 1916–1922 | ||||||||
| 5 | William Adamson
(1863–1936) |
|
West Fife | 24 October 1917 | 14 February 1921 | |||
| 6 | J. R. Clynes
(1869–1949) |
.jpg)
|
Manchester Platting | 14 February 1921 | 21 November 1922 | |||
| Bonar Law 1922–1923 | ||||||||
| (4) | Ramsay MacDonald(1866–1937)(2nd time) | .jpg)
|
Aberavon | 21 November 1922
(elected) |
28 August 1931 | |||
| Stanley Baldwin 1923–1924 | ||||||||
| Himself 1924 | ||||||||
| Stanley Baldwin 1924–1929 | ||||||||
| Himself 1929–1931 | ||||||||
| (2) | Arthur Henderson(1863–1935)(3rd time) |
|
Burnley(1931)None
(1931–1932) |
28 August 1931
(unopposed) |
25 October 1932 | Ramsey MacDonald 1931–1935 | ||
| 7 | George Lansbury
(1859–1940) |
|
Bow and Bromley | 25 October 1932
(unopposed) |
8 October 1935 | |||
| Stanley Baldwin 1935–1937 | ||||||||
| 8 | Clement Attlee(1883–1967) | 
|
Limehouse(1935–1950)Walthamstow West
(1950–1955) |
8 October 1935
(elected) |
7 December 1955[6] | |||
| Neville Chamberlain 1937–1940 | ||||||||
| Winston Churchill 1940–1945 | ||||||||
| Himself 1945–1951 | Edward VIII (1936)
| |||||||
| Winston Churchill 1951–1955 | George VI (1936–1952)
| |||||||
| Anthony Eden 1955–1957 | Elizabeth II (1952–2022)
| |||||||
| ― | Herbert Morrison(1888–1965) | 
|
Lewisham South | 7 December 1955 | 14 December 1955 | |||
| 9 | Hugh Gaitskell(1906–1963) | 
|
Leeds South | 14 December 1955
(elected) |
18 January 1963
(died in office) |
|||
| Harold Macmillan 1957–1963 | ||||||||
| ― | George Brown
(1914–1985) |
|
Belper | 18 January 1963 | 14 February 1963 | |||
| 10 | Harold Wilson(1916–1995) |  |
Huyton | 14 February 1963
(elected) |
5 April 1976 | |||
| Alec Douglas-Home 1963–1964 | ||||||||
| Himself 1964–1970 | ||||||||
| Edward Heath 1970–1974 | ||||||||
| Himself 1974–1976 | ||||||||
| 11 | James Callaghan(1912–2005) | .jpg)
|
Cardiff South East | 5 April 1976
(elected) |
10 November 1980 | Himself 1976–1979 | ||
| Margaret Thatcher 1979–1990 | ||||||||
| 12 | Michael Foot(1913–2010) | .jpg)
|
Ebbw Vale | 10 November 1980
(elected) |
2 October 1983 | |||
| 13 | Neil Kinnock(b. 1942) | _Neal_Kinnoch_,_k,_Bestanddeelnr_932-9811.jpg)
|
Islwyn | 2 October 1983
(elected) |
18 July 1992 | |||
| John Major 1990–1997 | ||||||||
| 14 | John Smith(1938–1994) | Monklands East | 18 July 1992
(elected) |
12 May 1994
(died in office) |
||||
| ― | Margaret Beckett(b. 1943)(acting) | 
|
Derby South | 12 May 1994 | 21 July 1994 | |||
| 15 | Tony Blair(b. 1953) | 
|
Sedgefield | 21 July 1994
(elected) |
24 June 2007 | |||
| Himself 1997–2007 | ||||||||
| 16 | Gordon Brown(b. 1951) | 
|
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath | 24 June 2007
(unopposed) |
11 May 2010 | Himself 2007–2010 | ||
| ― | Harriet Harman(b. 1950)(acting: 1st time) | 
|
Camberwell and Peckham | 11 May 2010 | 25 September 2010 | David Cameron 2010–2016 | ||
| 17 | Ed Miliband(b. 1969) | 
|
Doncaster North | 25 September 2010
(elected) |
8 May 2015 | |||
| ― | Harriet Harman(b. 1950)(acting: 2nd time) |
|
Camberwell and Peckham | 8 May 2015 | 12 September 2015 | |||
| 18 | Jeremy Corbyn(b. 1949) | 
|
Islington North | 12 September 2015
(elected) |
4 April 2020 | |||
| Theresa May 2016–2019 | ||||||||
| Boris Johnson 2019–2022 | ||||||||
| 19 | Keir Starmer(b. 1962) | 
|
Holborn and St Pancras | 4 April 2020
(elected) |
Incumbent | |||
| Liz Truss 2022 | ||||||||
| Rishi Sunak 2022 – present | Charles III
 (2022–present)
| |||||||
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Thorpe, Andrew. (2001) A History Of The British Labour Party, Palgrave, ISBN 0-333-92908-X
- ↑ Priddy, Sarah (16 June 2022). "Labour Party leaders and officials since 1975". House of Commons Library. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ↑ "A quick guide to Labour's leaders". BBC News. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ↑ Boothroyd, David. "Leaders of the Labour Party". election.demon.co.uk. United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ↑ Akehurst, Luke (15 December 2019). "Labour's most and least successful leaders, now including Corbyn". Labour List. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ↑ Nicklaus Thomas-Symonds (2010), Attlee: A Life in Politics, London: I B Tauris, p. 260
