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.
Nominations opened on 10 June and ballot papers were sent out on 30 June. Elections were held concurrently for both Leader and Deputy Leader of the Party, with the results announced on 21 July 1994. There were three candidates for Leader: Margaret Beckett, Tony Blair and John Prescott, but out of these three, only Blair did not simultaneously stand for Deputy Leader and did not endorse either Beckett or Prescott for Deputy. Blair went on to win the leadership election, and Prescott won the deputy leadership. Both Prescott and Beckett held roles in Blair's cabinet for his entire time in office.
Candidates Margaret Beckett, incumbent Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Member of Parliament for Derby South John Prescott, Shadow Secretary of State for Employment, Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull East
Result The election was conducted using the Labour Party's new "electoral college" which gave a third of the votes to the party's MPs and MEPs, a third to its rank and file members (the CLP) and the final third to affiliated trade unions and societies, such as the Fabians.
Candidate Affiliated (33.3%) Constituencies (33.3%) PLP (33.3%) Overall result Votes % Votes % Votes % % John Prescott 441,155 56.6 102,379 59.5 176 53.8 56.5 Margaret Beckett 338,271 43.4 69,977 40.5 151 46.2 43.5
How each MP voted