Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK)

Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
Incumbent Tom Watson MP since 12 September 2015
Appointer	Labour Party
Inaugural holder	John Robert Clynes
Formation	1922

The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party is a senior politician in the British Labour Party. The post is currently held by Tom Watson, who was elected as deputy on 12 September 2015.

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 former Labour 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.

In the event of a vacancy in the office of leader when the Labour Party is in opposition, the deputy leader automatically becomes temporary leader of the Party until a new leader is elected. If a vacancy in the leadership occurs while the Labour Party is in government, then the Cabinet, in consultation with the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, chooses a new leader, who serves until a new leader is elected.^[1]

To date, the only Deputy Leaders who have gone on to become the elected leader of the Labour Party are Clement Attlee and Michael Foot. Margaret Beckett briefly served as Labour leader following the unexpected death of John Smith in 1994. Harriet Harman was leader after Gordon Brown resigned in 2010 and after Ed Miliband resigned in 2015. Conversely, John Robert Clynes served as leader prior to becoming Deputy Leader.

List of Deputy Leaders of the Labour Party

		Constituency	Term began	Term ended	Concurrent Office(s)
1	John Robert Clynes (1869–1949)	Manchester Platting Lost seat 1931	22 November 1922	25 October 1932	Home Secretary
2	William Graham (1887–1932) (jointly with Clynes)	Edinburgh Central Lost seat 1931	1931	8 January 1932 Died in office	President of the Board of Trade
3	Clement Attlee (1883–1967)	Limehouse	25 October 1932	26 November 1935 Elected Leader	None
4	Arthur Greenwood (1880–1954)	Wakefield	26 November 1935	26 July 1945	Minister without portfolio
5	Herbert Morrison (1888–1965)	Lewisham East then Lewisham South	26 July 1945	2 February 1956	Deputy Prime Minister Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Leader of the House of Commons
6	Jim Griffiths (1890–1975)	Llanelli	14 December 1955	4 May 1959	None
7	Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960)	Ebbw Vale	4 May 1959	6 July 1960 Died in office	None
8	George Brown (1914–1985)	Belper Lost seat 1970	15 July 1960	18 June 1970 Lost seat	First Secretary of State Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
9	Roy Jenkins (1920–2003)	Birmingham Stechford	8 July 1970	10 April 1972	Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
10	Edward Short (1912–2012)	Newcastle upon Tyne Central	25 April 1972	21 October 1976	Leader of the House of Commons
11	Michael Foot (1913–2010)	Ebbw Vale	21 October 1976	4 November 1980 Elected Leader	Leader of the House of Commons
12	Denis Healey (1917-2015)	Leeds East	4 November 1980	2 October 1983	Shadow Foreign Secretary
13	Roy Hattersley (born 1932)	Birmingham Sparkbrook	2 October 1983	18 July 1992	Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Shadow Home Secretary
14	Margaret Beckett (born 1943)	Derby South	18 July 1992	21 July 1994	Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
15	John Prescott (born 1938)	Hull East	21 July 1994	24 June 2007	Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom First Secretary of State Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
16	Harriet Harman (born 1950)	Camberwell and Peckham	24 June 2007	12 September 2015	Leader of the House of Commons Minister for Women and Equalities Labour Party Chair Shadow International Development Secretary Shadow Deputy Prime Minister Shadow Culture Secretary Leader of the Opposition
17	Tom Watson (born 1967)	West Bromwich East	12 September 2015	Incumbent	Shadow minister for the Cabinet Office

References

↑ Labour Party Rule Book 2013, Chapter 4, clause II.2.E.i and iv.

Labour Party

Leadership

Leaders	Hardie Henderson Barnes MacDonald Henderson Adamson Clynes MacDonald Henderson Lansbury Attlee Gaitskell Wilson Callaghan Foot Kinnock Smith Blair Brown Miliband Corbyn

Deputy Leaders	Clynes Graham Attlee Greenwood Morrison Griffiths Bevan Brown Jenkins Short Foot Healey Hattersley Beckett Prescott Harman Watson

General Secretaries	MacDonald Henderson Middleton Phillips Williams Nicholas Hayward Mortimer Whitty Sawyer McDonagh Triesman Carter Watt Collins McNicol

Treasurers	Henderson MacDonald Henderson Lathan Greenwood Gaitskell Bevan Nicholas Davies Callaghan Atkinson Varley Booth McCluskie Burlison Prosser Elsby Dromey Holland

Leaders in the Lords	Haldane Cripps Ponsonby Snell Addison Jowitt Alexander Pakenham Shackleton Shepherd Peart Hughes Richard Jay Williams Amos Ashton Royall Smith

PLP Chairs	Hardie Henderson Barnes MacDonald Henderson Hodge* Wardle* Adamson Clynes MacDonald Henderson Lansbury Attlee Lees-Smith* Pethick-Lawrence* Greenwood* Gaitskell Wilson Houghton Mikardo Hughes Willey Dormand Orme Hoyle Soley Corston Clwyd Lloyd Watts Cryer

* = wartime, in opposition

Internal elections

Leadership elections	1922 (MacDonald) 1935 (Attlee) 1955 (Gaitskell) 1960 1961 1963 (Wilson) 1976 (Callaghan) 1980 (Foot) 1983 (Kinnock) 1988 1992 (Smith) 1994 (Blair) 2007 (Brown) 2010 (Miliband) 2015 (Corbyn)

Deputy Leadership elections	1952 (Morrison) 1953 1956 (Griffiths) 1959 (Bevan) 1960 (Brown) 1961 1962 1970 (Jenkins) 1971 1972 (Short) 1976 (Foot) 1980 (Healey) 1981 1983 (Hattersley) 1988 1992 (Beckett) 1994 (Prescott) 2007 (Harman) 2015 (Watson)

Shadow Cabinet elections	1979 (Callaghan) 1980 (Foot) 1981 (Foot) 1982 (Foot) 1983 (Kinnock) 1984 (Kinnock) 1985 (Kinnock) 1986 (Kinnock) 1987 (Kinnock) ... 1992 (Smith) 1993 (Smith) 1994 (Blair) 1995 (Blair) 1996 (Blair) 2010 (Miliband)

Organisation

Structure	Constitution Clause IV Rule Book National Executive Committee Labour Party Conference National Policy Forum General Secretary Treasurer Constituency Labour Party Branch Labour Party Socialist societies Association of Labour Councillors Parliamentary Labour Party Labour Chief Whip European Parliamentary Labour Party London Labour Party Scottish Labour Party Welsh Labour Labour Party in Northern Ireland Affiliated trade unions Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation Co-operative Party Labour Co-operative Young Labour Labour International

Related organisations	Christians on the Left Compass Fabian Society Young Fabians Grassroots Alliance Jewish Labour Movement Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform Labour CND Labour Friends of Israel Labour Party Irish Society Labour Representation Committee (2004) Labour Students LGBT Labour LabourList National Union of Labour and Socialist Clubs Progress Socialist Appeal Socialist Health Association Socialist Educational Association Socialist Environment and Resources Association Socialist Campaign Group Socialist Youth Network Tribune

History and related topics	History of the Labour Party (UK) General election manifestos History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom Lib–Lab pact New Labour Tony's Cronies Blue Labour One Nation Labour

Alliances	Party of European Socialists Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Progressive Alliance Socialist International

Northern Ireland	Social Democratic and Labour Party Labour – Federation of Labour Groups

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