Leader of the Labour Party (UK) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Leader of the Labour Party
Incumbent Keir Starmer since 4 April 2020
Member of	National Executive Committee
Precursor	Chair of the PLP
Inaugural holder	Keir Hardie
Formation	17 January 1906
Deputy	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party

The Leader of the Labour Party is the most important job within the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. This person is like the captain of the team. The current leader is Keir Starmer. He became leader on 4 April 2020. He also became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after the 2024 general election.

The official rules for having a leader were written down in 1922. Before that, the leader was called the "Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party." This was from when Labour Members of Parliament (MPs) were first elected in 1906. After the 1970 election, the roles of party leader and PLP chairman became separate.

In 1921, J. R. Clynes was the first Labour Party leader born in England. All the leaders before him were born in Scotland. After the 1924 election, Ramsay MacDonald became the first Labour leader to become Prime Minister. He led a government for nine months. Later, in 1945, Clement Attlee was the first leader to win enough seats to form a majority government. In 1983, Neil Kinnock was the first leader born in Wales. Only two leaders, George Lansbury and John Smith, did not lead the party in a general election. George Lansbury resigned, and John Smith sadly died while in office.

So far, only four leaders have won general elections for the Labour Party. These are Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson, Tony Blair, and Keir Starmer. Tony Blair was the most successful. He won three elections in a row: in 1997, 2001, and 2005. The 1997 and 2001 wins were very big, called "landslide victories." Harold Wilson won four out of five elections he fought. He won in 1964, 1966, February 1974, and October 1974. Clement Attlee won in 1945 and 1950. Keir Starmer led Labour to a big win in 2024, after the party had a difficult election in 2019. James Callaghan and Gordon Brown also became Prime Ministers, but they did not win general elections as Labour leaders.

When the Labour Party is in charge of the Government of the United Kingdom, the leader becomes the Prime Minister. They also lead the Cabinet, which is a group of top government ministers. When the party is not in power, the leader becomes the Leader of the Opposition. They lead the Shadow Cabinet, which challenges the government.

How Labour Leaders Are Chosen

The Leader of the Labour Party, and their deputy, are chosen using a special voting system. It's called an "alternative vote" system. Before 1980, only Labour Members of Parliament (MPs) voted for the leader.

From 1980 to 2014, an "electoral college" was used. This meant votes were split into three equal parts. One-third of the votes came from MPs and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Another third came from individual Labour Party members. The final third came from members of groups connected to the Labour Party, like trade unions.

Since the 2015 election, the party uses a "one member, one vote" system. This means that the votes of MPs, party members, and members of connected groups all count equally. Even though MPs' votes are not counted separately anymore, a candidate still needs support from at least 20% of Labour MPs to even be on the ballot.

Labour Party Leaders (1906–Present)

This is a list of all the Labour Party leaders since 1906. It includes people who were acting leaders for a short time.

No.	Leader (birth–death)		Constituency	Took office	Left office	Elections fought	Tenure	Prime Minister (term)
1	Keir Hardie (1856–1915)		Merthyr Tydfil	17 January 1906	22 January 1908	1906	2 years, 5 days		Campbell-Bannerman 1905–1908
2	Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) (1st time)		Barnard Castle	22 January 1908	14 February 1910	Jan 1910	2 years, 24 days
									Asquith 1908–1916
3	George Barnes (1859–1940)		Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown	14 February 1910	6 February 1911	Dec 1910	358 days
4	Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) (1st time)		Leicester	6 February 1911	5 August 1914	―	3 years, 181 days
(2)	Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) (2nd time)		Barnard Castle	5 August 1914	24 October 1917	―	3 years, 81 days
									Lloyd George 1916–1922
5	William Adamson (1863–1936)		West Fife	24 October 1917	14 February 1921	1918	3 years, 113 days
6	J. R. Clynes (1869–1949)		Manchester Platting	14 February 1921	21 November 1922	1922	1 year, 281 days
									Law 1922–1923
(4)	Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) (2nd time)		Aberavon	21 November 1922 (elected)	28 August 1931	1923 1924 1929	8 years, 280 days
									Baldwin 1923–1924
									Himself 1924
									Baldwin 1924–1929
									Himself 1929–1931
(2)	Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) (3rd time)		Burnley (1931) None (1931–1932)	28 August 1931 (unopposed)	25 October 1932	1931	1 year, 59 days		MacDonald 1931–1935
7	George Lansbury (1859–1940)		Bow and Bromley	25 October 1932 (unopposed)	8 October 1935	―	2 years, 349 days
									Baldwin 1935–1937
8	Clement Attlee (1883–1967)		Limehouse (1935–1950) Walthamstow West (1950–1955)	25 October 1935 (elected)	7 December 1955	1935 1945 1950 1951 1955	20 years, 44 days
									Chamberlain 1937–1940
									Churchill 1940–1945
									Himself 1945–1951
									Churchill 1951–1955
									Eden 1955–1957
―	Herbert Morrison (1888–1965)		Lewisham South	7 December 1955	14 December 1955	―	7 days
9	Hugh Gaitskell (1906–1963)		Leeds South	14 December 1955 (elected)	18 January 1963 (died in office)	1959	7 years, 36 days
									Macmillan 1957–1963
―	George Brown (1914–1985)		Belper	18 January 1963	14 February 1963	―	28 days
10	Harold Wilson (1916–1995)		Huyton	14 February 1963 (elected)	5 April 1976	1964 1966 1970 Feb 1974 Oct 1974	13 years, 50 days
									Douglas-Home 1963–1964
									Himself 1964–1970
									Heath 1970–1974
									Himself 1974–1976
11	James Callaghan (1912–2005)		Cardiff South East	5 April 1976 (elected)	10 November 1980	1979	4 years, 221 days		Himself 1976–1979
									Thatcher 1979–1990
12	Michael Foot (1913–2010)		Ebbw Vale	10 November 1980 (elected)	2 October 1983	1983	2 years, 327 days
13	Neil Kinnock (b. 1942)		Islwyn	2 October 1983 (elected)	18 July 1992	1987 1992	8 years, 291 days
									Major 1990–1997
14	John Smith (1938–1994)		Monklands East	18 July 1992 (elected)	12 May 1994 (died in office)	―	1 year, 299 days
―	Margaret Beckett (b. 1943) (acting)		Derby South	12 May 1994	21 July 1994	―	71 days
15	Tony Blair (b. 1953)		Sedgefield	21 July 1994 (elected)	24 June 2007	1997 2001 2005	12 years, 341 days
									Himself 1997–2007
16	Gordon Brown (b. 1951)		Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath	24 June 2007 (unopposed)	11 May 2010	2010	2 years, 319 days		Himself 2007–2010
―	Harriet Harman (b. 1950) (acting: 1st time)		Camberwell and Peckham	11 May 2010	25 September 2010	―	138 days		Cameron 2010–2016
17	Ed Miliband (b. 1969)		Doncaster North	25 September 2010 (elected)	8 May 2015	2015	4 years, 226 days
―	Harriet Harman (b. 1950) (acting: 2nd time)		Camberwell and Peckham	8 May 2015	12 September 2015	―	128 days
18	Jeremy Corbyn (b. 1949)		Islington North	12 September 2015 (elected)	4 April 2020	2017 2019	4 years, 206 days
									May 2016–2019
									Johnson 2019–2022
19	Sir Keir Starmer (b. 1962)		Holborn and St Pancras	4 April 2020 (elected)	Incumbent	2024	5 years, 146 days
									Truss Sep–Oct 2022
									Sunak 2022–2024
									Himself 2024–present

Timeline of Labour Party Leaders

Leaders by Time in Office

This list shows how long each Labour Party leader (not including acting leaders) served. Leaders who were also Prime Minister are shown in bold.

Life After Being Leader

When a Labour Party leader retires, especially if they were Prime Minister, they often get a special title called a peerage. This means they can become a member of the House of Lords. Examples include Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson, and James Callaghan. Neil Kinnock also became a member of the House of Lords, even though he was never Prime Minister. However, Michael Foot chose not to accept a similar offer.

More to Explore

• History of the Labour Party (UK)
• Labour Party leadership of Keir Starmer
• Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)
• Leader of the Liberal Democrats