Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK)

The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party is the second-highest ranking politician in the British Labour Party. The current deputy leader is Lucy Powell.

In the event of the Labour Party Leader's immediate resignation, the Deputy Leader will serve as Acting Leader until the election of a successor. It is generally expected that the Deputy will act as Leader in the House of Commons in scenarios where the Leader is otherwise unavailable, although this is not always the case.

History The 1922 general election was the first in which the Labour Party finished in second place, therefore also forming the Loyal Opposition for the first time. Although J. R. Clynes had overseen the gain of 85 seats as party leader at the general election, he was challenged for the leadership on 21 November by former leader Ramsay MacDonald. In a vote among the party's MPs, MacDonald won by 61 to 56, becoming the first Labour Leader of the Opposition. MacDonald immediately offered to create the position of deputy leader for Clynes, appointing him to the position immediately, with the role becoming officially codified by the National Executive Committee days later.

Between 1922 and 1952, deputy leaders were appointed by acclamation among Labour MPs. In August 1931, Labour MPs decided to appoint a second Deputy Leader, with William Graham chosen to serve alongside Clynes; this marked the first and, to date, only time there have been two deputy leaders serving concurrently. Despite both losing their seats later that year at the general election, they initially remained as joint deputy leaders. Graham died in January 1932 and Clynes resigned as Deputy Leader in October 1932, with only one person holding the position from then on. On 11 November 1952, for the first time, there was a contested election for the position, after Aneurin Bevan challenged the incumbent Herbert Morrison (Morrison won by 194 votes to 82). Deputy leadership elections were subsequently held on the same basis and rules as leadership elections, although were typically more frequent, as it was more common for MPs to challenge a sitting deputy leader than a sitting leader.

Following the 1980 Labour Party Conference, new leadership and deputy leadership rules were adopted that would see the two roles chosen via the alternative vote, with an electoral college having a third of votes allocated to Labour MPs and MEPs, a third to individual members of the Labour Party, and a third to individual members of all affiliated organisations, including socialist societies and trade unions. The first election held under these rules came in 1981, when Tony Benn challenged the incumbent Denis Healey for the position. At a time when the Social Democratic Party had been formed by several former Labour MPs, the 1981 deputy leadership election came to be seen as a hugely significant moment in the history of the Labour Party, after the more moderate Healey defeated the more left-wing Benn by just 0.8%. Deputy leadership elections were held concurrently with leadership elections on these rules until 2015, when the party switched to a "one member, one vote" system. Candidates for the deputy leadership now require nomination by at least 20% of Labour MPs to appear on the ballot.

In 1995, the office of Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (previously only held once by Clement Attlee as a result of the wartime coalition government) was revived and began to be held frequently by senior politicians in the governing party. John Prescott became the first Deputy Leader of the Labour Party to hold this position, holding it under Tony Blair from 1997 to 2007. In 2024, Angela Rayner became the second Deputy Leader of the Labour Party to hold this position, as well as the first woman to serve as a Labour Deputy Prime Minister. As the deputy leadership is a party role, with no constitutional position, the role of Deputy Prime Minister is not guaranteed to any deputy leader when the Labour Party is in government. In 2007, newly appointed Labour Leader and Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that the newly elected Deputy Leader, Harriet Harman, would instead become Party Chair and appointed her Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal in the Cabinet.

According to the Labour Party's constitution, in the event of a vacancy in the party leadership while the party is in Opposition, the Deputy Leader will automatically become Acting Leader until a new leader can be elected. If a leadership vacancy occurs while the Labour Party is in government, the Cabinet, in consultation with Labour's National Executive Committee, will select a temporary leader who will serve until a new leader can be elected.Labour Party Rule Book 2013, Chapter 4, clause II.2.E.i and iv. The latter situation has only occurred twice, when Harold Wilson resigned as leader in 1976 and when Tony Blair resigned as leader in 2007, but in both cases each remained in office until, respectively, James Callaghan and Gordon Brown were elected their successors, and so no Acting Leader was required.

To date, the only deputy leaders who have gone on to be elected Leader of the Labour Party are Clement Attlee and Michael Foot. Conversely, J. R. Clynes served initially as party leader, before being appointed the first Deputy Leader. Four deputy leaders have served as Acting Leaders; Herbert Morrison in 1955 following the retirement of Clement Attlee, George Brown in 1963 following the sudden death of Hugh Gaitskell, Margaret Beckett following the equally sudden death of John Smith in 1994, and Harriet Harman, twice, following the resignations of Gordon Brown in 2010 and Ed Miliband in 2015 respectively. All four served concurrently as Leader of the Opposition during their periods as Acting Leader of the Labour Party.

Deputy Leaders of the Labour Party (1906–present) Source:

Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour PartyPortrait Constituency Term began Term ended Concurrent party and/or government role(s)Leader(s)1David Shackleton(1863–1938)Clitheroe17 January 190628 January 1908No other role Hardie2George Barnes(1859–1940)Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown28 January 190815 February 1910No other role Henderson3J. R. Clynes(1869–1949)Manchester North East15 February 19106 February 1911No other role Barnes4William Brace(1865–1947)South Glamorganshire6 February 191113 February 1912No other roleMacDonald5James Parker(1863–1948)Halifax13 February 19129 February 1914No other role6Alfred Henry Gill(1856–1914)Bolton9 February 191427 August 1914(died in office)No other roleHenderson7John Hodge(1855–1937)Manchester Gorton10 November 19148 January 1919Minister for Labour(1916–1917)Minister of Pensions(1917–1919)Adamson–J. R. Clynes(1869–1949)Manchester Platting8 January 191914 February 1921No other role8Stephen Walsh(1859–1929)Ince14 February 192122 November 1922No other role ClynesDeputy Leader of the Labour PartyPortrait Constituency Term began Term ended Concurrent party and/or government role(s)Leader(s)1J. R. Clynes(1869–1949)Manchester Platting(lost seat in 1931)22 November 192225 October 1932Home Secretary(1929–1931)Lord Privy Seal(1924) MacDonaldHenderson 2 William Graham(1887–1932) Edinburgh Central(lost seat in 1931) 28 August 1931 8 January 1932(died in office) President of the Board of Trade(1929–1931) 3 Clement Attlee(1883–1967) Limehouse 25 October 1932 8 October 1935(elected leader) Deputy Leader of the Opposition(1932–1935) LansburyVacantAttlee 4 Arthur Greenwood(1880–1954) Wakefield 26 November 1935 29 July 1945 Leader of the Opposition(1942–1945)Minister without Portfolio(1940–1942)5Herbert Morrison(1888–1965)Lewisham South(1950–1955)Lewisham East(1945–1950)29 July 194514 December 1955Leader of the Opposition(1955)Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs(1951)Lord President of the Council(1945–1951)Leader of the House of Commons(1945–1951) Himself (acting)VacantGaitskell 6 Jim Griffiths(1890–1975) Llanelli 2 February 1956 24 October 1959 Deputy Leader of the Opposition(1956–1959) 7 Aneurin Bevan(1897–1960) Ebbw Vale 24 October 1959 6 July 1960(died in office) Deputy Leader of the Opposition(1959–1960)Shadow Foreign Secretary Vacant8George Brown(1914–1985)Belper(lost seat in 1970)10 November 196019 June 1970Shadow Minister of Defence Shadow Home SecretarySecretary of State for Foreign Affairs(1964–1968)First Secretary of State(1964–1966)Secretary of State for Economic Affairs(1964–1966)Leader of the Opposition(1963) Himself (acting)WilsonVacant 9 Roy Jenkins(1920–2003) Birmingham Stechford 8 July 1970 10 April 1972 Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Vacant10Edward Short(1912–2012)Newcastle upon Tyne Central25 April 197221 October 1976Shadow Leader of the House of CommonsLord President of the Council(1974–1976)Leader of the House of Commons(1974–1976)Callaghan 11 Michael Foot(1913–2010) Ebbw Vale 21 October 1976 10 November 1980(elected leader) Lord President of the Council(1976–1979)Leader of the House of Commons(1976–1979) 12 Denis Healey(1917–2015) Leeds East 13 November 1980 2 October 1983 Shadow Foreign Secretary Foot 13 Roy Hattersley(1932–2026) Birmingham Sparkbrook 2 October 1983 18 July 1992 Shadow Home Secretary(1980–1983; 1987–1992)Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer(1983–1987) Kinnock14Margaret Beckett(born 1943)Derby South18 July 199221 July 1994Shadow Leader of the House of Commons(1992–1994)Leader of the Opposition(1994) Smith Herself (acting) 15 John Prescott(1938–2024) Kingston upon Hull East 21 July 1994 24 June 2007 Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom(1997–2007)First Secretary of State(2001–2007)Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions(1997–2001)Secretary of State for Local Government and the Regions Blair16Harriet Harman(born 1950)Camberwell and Peckham24 June 200712 September 2015Leader of the Opposition(2010; 2015)Chair of the Labour Party(2007–2015)Leader of the House of Commons(2007–2010)Lord Privy Seal(2007–2015)Minister for Women and Equality(2007–2010)Shadow Deputy Prime MinisterShadow Secretary of State for International DevelopmentShadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Brown Herself (acting) Miliband Herself (acting) 17 Tom Watson(born 1967) West Bromwich East 12 September 2015 12 December 2019 Chair of the Labour Party(2015–2017)Shadow Minister for the Cabinet OfficeShadow Secretary for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (2016–2019) CorbynVacant 18 Angela Rayner(born 1980) Ashton-under-Lyne 4 April 2020 5 September 2025 Shadow First Secretary of StateDeputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom(2024–2025)Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government(2024–2025)Chair of the Labour Party(2020–2021) StarmerVacant19Lucy Powell(born 1974)Manchester Central25 October 2025 IncumbentNo other roleSecretary of State for Education(2026–present)Burnham

Timeline

Deputy Leaders by time in office This list ranks Deputy Leaders of the Labour Party by their time in office. Rank Leader Time in office 1 15th John Prescott 12 years, 341 days 2 5th Herbert Morrison 3 1st J. R. Clynes 9 years, 339 days 4 4th Arthur Greenwood 5 8th George Brown 6 13th Roy Hattersley 8 years, 291 days 7 16th Harriet Harman 8 years, 164 days 8 18th Angela Rayner 5 years, 154 days 9 10th Edward Short 4 years, 180 days 10 17th Tom Watson 4 years, 93 days 11 11th Michael Foot 4 years, 21 days 12 6th Jim Griffiths 13 12th Denis Healey 2 years, 324 days 14 3rd Clement Attlee 2 years, 48 days 15 14th Margaret Beckett 2 years, 3 days 16 9th Roy Jenkins 1 year, 278 days 17 19th Lucy Powell 18 7th Aneurin Bevan 19 2nd William Graham 133 days

See also Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party (UK) Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Notes

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