Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK)

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The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party is the second most senior politician in the British Labour Party, which has been in government in the United Kingdom since 1997. The current holder of the post is Harriet Harman, elected on 24 June 2007.

Unlike other political party leaders, the Labour leader does not have the power to appoint or dismiss his or her deputy. The post is instead elected using the party's electoral college system; it was elected by Labour MPs before 1981.

Recently, the office of Deputy Prime Minister has been revived and held by senior politicians in the governing party. The previous Labour Deputy Leader, John Prescott, held this post from 1997 to 2007. However, the Deputy Leader is essentially a party official and there is no constitutional link between the two roles. The current British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, announced on his formal election as Labour leader that the newly-elected deputy leader, Harriet Harman, would instead become Party Chair. Brown subsequently appointed her Leader of the House of Commons in his first Cabinet.

		Portrait	Tenure	Dates of birth and death
1	John Robert Clynes		1922 - 1932	27 March 1869 – 23 October 1949
2	William Graham (jointly with John Robert Clynes)		1931 - 1932	29 July 1887 – 8 January 1932
3	Clement Attlee		1932 - 1935	3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967
4	Arthur Greenwood		1935 - 1945	8 February 1880 – 9 June 1954
5	Herbert Morrison		1945 - 1955	3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965
6	Jim Griffiths		1955 - 1959	19 September 1890 – 7 August 1975
7	Aneurin Bevan		1959 - 6 July 1960 (died in office)	15 November 1897 - 6 July 1960
8	George Brown		1960 - 18 June 1970 (lost his seat)	2 September 1914 – 2 June 1985
9	Roy Jenkins		19 June 1970 - 7 April 1972	11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003
10	Edward Short		April 1972 - 1976	Born 17 December 1912
11	Michael Foot		1976 - 10 November 1980 (elected party leader)	Born 23 July 1913
12	Denis Healey		4 November 1980 - 11 June 1983	born 30 August 1917
13	Roy Hattersley		11 June 1983 - 11 April 1992	28 December 1932
14	Margaret Beckett		11 April 1992 - 12 May 1994 (became leader on the death of John Smith)	Born 15 January 1943
15	John Prescott		21 July 1994 - 24 June 2007	Born 31 May 1938
16	Harriet Harman		24 June 2007 - present	Born 30 July 1950

Labour Party (UK) Deputy leadership elections
1970 (Short) | 1976 (Foot) | 1980 (Healey) | 1981 (Healey) | 1983 (Hattersley) | 1988 (Hattersley) | 1992 (Beckett) | 1994 (Prescott) | 2007 (Harman)