# 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 Deputy Leader also serves as the Deputy Chairperson of the Labour Party, and acts as Leader in the House in events where the leader cannot.

## History

The Labour Leader does not have the power to appoint or dismiss their Deputy. The post is instead directly elected by party members, registered supporters and affiliated supporters on a one-member-one-vote basis; before 2015, it was elected using the party's former electoral college system; and before 1981, it was elected by Labour MPs.
Recently, the office of Deputy Prime Minister has been revived and held by senior politicians in the governing party. A 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. Such a vacancy has occurred only twice, when Harold Wilson resigned as Leader and Prime Minister in 1976, and when Tony Blair did so in 2007, but each remained in office until, respectively, James Callaghan and Gordon Brown had been elected as successor, and so no Acting Leader was required to take over.
To date, the only Deputy Leaders who have gone on to be 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

| Portrait | Portrait | Portrait | Constituency | Term began | Term ended | Concurrent office(s) | Leader(s) |
| 1 | John Robert Clynes (1869–1949) | | Manchester Platting Lost seat 1931 | 22 November 1922 | 25 October 1932 | Home Secretary | MacDonald |
| 1 | John Robert Clynes (1869–1949) | | Manchester Platting Lost seat 1931 | 22 November 1922 | 25 October 1932 | Home Secretary | Henderson |
| 2 | William Graham (1887–1932) (jointly with Clynes) | | Edinburgh Central Lost seat 1931 | 28 August 1931 | 8 January 1932 Died in office | President of the Board of Trade | Henderson |
| 3 | Clement Attlee (1883–1967) | | Limehouse | 25 October 1932 | 8 October 1935 Elected leader | None | Lansbury |
| Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Attlee |
| 4 | Arthur Greenwood (1880–1954) | | Wakefield | 26 November 1935 | 25 May 1945 | Minister without portfolio | Attlee |
| 5 | Herbert Morrison (1888–1965) | | Lewisham East then Lewisham South | 25 May 1945 | 14 December 1955 | Deputy Prime Minister Foreign Secretary Leader of the House of Commons | Attlee |
| 5 | Herbert Morrison (1888–1965) | | Lewisham East then Lewisham South | 25 May 1945 | 14 December 1955 | Deputy Prime Minister Foreign Secretary Leader of the House of Commons | Himself (acting) |
| Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Gaitskell |
| 6 | Jim Griffiths (1890–1975) | | Llanelli | 2 February 1956 | 4 May 1959 | None | Gaitskell |
| 7 | Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960) | | Ebbw Vale | 4 May 1959 | 6 July 1960 Died in office | None | Gaitskell |
| Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Gaitskell |
| 8 | George Brown (1914–1985) | | Belper | 15 July 1960 | 18 June 1970 Lost seat 1970 | Deputy Prime Minister First Secretary of State Foreign Secretary Secretary of State for Economic Affairs | Gaitskell |
| 8 | George Brown (1914–1985) | | Belper | 15 July 1960 | 18 June 1970 Lost seat 1970 | Deputy Prime Minister First Secretary of State Foreign Secretary Secretary of State for Economic Affairs | Himself (acting) |
| 8 | George Brown (1914–1985) | | Belper | 15 July 1960 | 18 June 1970 Lost seat 1970 | Deputy Prime Minister First Secretary of State Foreign Secretary Secretary of State for Economic Affairs | Wilson |
| Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Wilson |
| 9 | Roy Jenkins (1920–2003) | | Birmingham Stechford | 8 July 1970 | 10 April 1972 | Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer | Wilson |
| Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Wilson |
| 10 | Edward Short (1912–2012) | | Newcastle upon Tyne Central | 25 April 1972 | 21 October 1976 | Leader of the House of Commons | Wilson |
| 10 | Edward Short (1912–2012) | | Newcastle upon Tyne Central | 25 April 1972 | 21 October 1976 | Leader of the House of Commons | Callaghan |
| 11 | Michael Foot (1913–2010) | | Ebbw Vale | 21 October 1976 | 10 November 1980 Elected leader | Leader of the House of Commons | Callaghan |
| 12 | Denis Healey (1917–2015) | | Leeds East | 13 November 1980 | 2 October 1983 | Shadow Foreign Secretary | Foot |
| 13 | Roy Hattersley (born 1932) | | Birmingham Sparkbrook | 2 October 1983 | 18 July 1992 | Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Shadow Home Secretary | Kinnock |
| 14 | Margaret Beckett (born 1943) | | Derby South | 18 July 1992 | 21 July 1994 | Shadow Leader of the House of Commons | Smith |
| 14 | Margaret Beckett (born 1943) | | Derby South | 18 July 1992 | 21 July 1994 | Shadow Leader of the House of Commons | Herself (acting) |
| 15 | John Prescott (1938–2024) | | Kingston upon 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 | Blair |
| 16 | Harriet Harman (born 1950) | | Camberwell and Peckham | 24 June 2007 | 12 September 2015 | Leader of the House of Commons Lord Privy Seal Minister for Women and Equalities Labour Party Chair Shadow Deputy Prime Minister Leader of the Opposition | Brown |
| 16 | Harriet Harman (born 1950) | | Camberwell and Peckham | 24 June 2007 | 12 September 2015 | Leader of the House of Commons Lord Privy Seal Minister for Women and Equalities Labour Party Chair Shadow Deputy Prime Minister Leader of the Opposition | Herself (acting) |
| 16 | Harriet Harman (born 1950) | | Camberwell and Peckham | 24 June 2007 | 12 September 2015 | Leader of the House of Commons Lord Privy Seal Minister for Women and Equalities Labour Party Chair Shadow Deputy Prime Minister Leader of the Opposition | Miliband |
| 16 | Harriet Harman (born 1950) | | Camberwell and Peckham | 24 June 2007 | 12 September 2015 | Leader of the House of Commons Lord Privy Seal Minister for Women and Equalities Labour Party Chair Shadow Deputy Prime Minister Leader of the Opposition | Herself (acting) |
| 17 | Tom Watson (born 1967) | | West Bromwich East | 12 September 2015 | 12 December 2019 | Shadow minister for the Cabinet Office Chair of the Labour Party Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport | Corbyn |
| Corbyn |||||||
| 18 | Angela Rayner (born 1980) | | Ashton-under-Lyne | 4 April 2020 | Incumbent | Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Shadow First Secretary of State | Starmer |