Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom which sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is made up of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The party is one of two historically dominant parties in British politics alongside the Conservative Party, with both having alternated being in government since 1924. Labour has been led by Keir Starmer since 2020, who in 2024 became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the party's landslide victory. As of 2025, there have been seven prime ministers from the Labour Party and twelve Labour governments. 

The Labour Party has been in power in the United Kingdom government since July 2024. It was in power in the Scottish Parliament (in coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats) until 2007. It is the largest group in the London Assembly, although until May 2016 the Mayor of London was a Conservative party member. It is also the largest party in local government.

 History 
The party was officially formed in 1906, just after the general election, as a successor of the Labour Representative Committee formed in 1900. In 1918, the party made a new constitution with the commitment to socialism, or the socialization of the industry. This could be found in Clause 4.
The Labour Party won the general election in 1945 for the first time. From 1951 Labour was in opposition for thirteen years, during which there were serious fights between the left and right wings of the party. The leader of the left wing was Aneurin Bevan. His supporters were called the "Bevanites". They wanted a less confrontational policy in foreign affairs and more socialist actions. The leaders of the right wing were Clement Attlee and Hugh Gaitskell. They believed that Western capitalism had changed a lot and that socialism and public ownership was not so important. Gaitskell tried to remove Clause 4 from the party constitution at the 1959 conference, but he could not.

In 1994, Tony Blair forced the Labour Party to drop Clause 4. This was an important step to change the party into "New Labour".

In 2015, dark horse candidate Jeremy Corbyn announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Labour Party. At the beginning, he was thought of as a socialist fringe candidate, but he later became the lead candidate in polls and got the support of the majority of trade unions affiliated to the Labour Party, along with those of three non-affiliated unions. On 12 September 2015, he was elected Leader of the Labour Party, with a majority vote of 59.5% in the first round of the ballot.

 Past Leaders (since 1906) 

Keir Hardie, 1906–1908 
Arthur Henderson, 1908–1910
George Nicoll Barnes, 1910–1911
Ramsay MacDonald, 1911–1914 
Arthur Henderson, 1914–1917
William Adamson, 1917–1921
John Robert Clynes, 1921–1922
Ramsay MacDonald, 1922–1931 
Arthur Henderson, 1931–1932
George Lansbury, 1932–1935
Clement Attlee, 1935–1955 
Hugh Gaitskell, 1955–1963 
George Brown, 1963 (Acting) 
Harold Wilson, 1963–1976 
James Callaghan, 1976–1980 
Michael Foot, 1980–1983 
Neil Kinnock, 1983–1992 
John Smith, 1992–1994 
Margaret Beckett, 1994 (Acting) 
Tony Blair, 1994–2007 
Gordon Brown, 2007–2010 
Harriet Harman, 2010 (Acting) 
Ed Miliband, 2010–2015
Harriet Harman, 2015 (Acting)
Jeremy Corbyn, 2015–2020
Keir Starmer, 2020–present

 Labour Prime Ministers 
 Name Portrait Country of birth Time in Office Ramsay MacDonald 60px Scotland 1924; 1929–1931 Clement Attlee 60px England 1945–1951 Harold Wilson 60px England 1964–1970; 1974–1976 James Callaghan 60px England 1976–1979 Tony Blair 60px Scotland 1997–2007 Gordon Brown 60px Scotland 2007–2010 Keir Starmer 60px England 2024-present

 References 

 Notes 

 Other websites 
Official Labour Party website
Unofficial website with an archive of electoral manifestos and a directory of related websites
Unofficial history website 
Guardian Unlimited Politics — Special Report: Labour Party

Category:1900 establishments in the United Kingdom