Choosing the Labour Leader: Labour Party Leadership Elections from Wilson to Brown

264 Pages·2010·9.167 MB·English

by  Heppell, Timothy

Timothy Heppell is Lecturer in British Politics at the University of Leeds and
the author of Choosing the Tory Leader: Conservative Party Leadership Elections
from Heath to Cameron (I.B.Tauris, 2008).
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ii
CHOOSING THE
LABOUR LEADER

LABOUR PARTY LEADERSHIP
ELECTIONS FROM WILSON TO
BROWN

TIMOTHY HEPPELL

TAURIS ACADEMIC STUDIES
an imprint of

I.B.TAURIS PUBLISHERS
LONDON NEW YORK
Published in 2010 by Tauris Academic Studies
An imprint of I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
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Distributed in the United States and Canada
Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010

Copyright © 2010 Timothy Heppell

The right of Timothy Heppell to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act
1988.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part
thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

International Library of Political Studies 48

ISBN 978 1 84885 381 2

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

Library of Congress catalog card: available

Printed and bound in India by Thomson Press (India)
Camera-ready copy edited and supplied by the author
CONTENTS
List of Tables viii

Acknowledgements xi

Preface by Dr Tim Bale xiii

1. Introduction 1

2. From Gaitskell to Wilson: The Labour Party Leadership
Election of 1963 19
2.1 The Defeat of Wilson: The Failed Challenge to Gaitskell 21
2.2 The Triumph of Wilson: Defeating the Gaitskellite Social
Democratic Right 30
2.3 Conclusion 39

3. From Wilson to Callaghan: The Labour Party Leadership
Election of 1976 43
3.1 The Non Challenges to Wilson 46
3.2 The Resignation of Wilson 51
3.3 The Battle of the Crown Princes: Candidates and Ballots 54
3.4 Explaining the Election of Callaghan 59
3.5 Conclusion 62

4. From Callaghan to Foot: The Labour Party Leadership
Election of 1980 65
4.1 Establishing the Principle of an Electoral College 67
4.2 The Final Parliamentary Labour Party Leadership Ballot 70
4.3 Explaining the Selection of Foot 77
4.4 Establishing the Operation of the Electoral College 80
4.5 The Consequences of Change: The Formation of the Social
Democratic Party 82
4.6 Conclusion 86
vi CHOOSING THE LABOUR LEADER

5. From Foot to Kinnock: The Labour Party Leadership
Election of 1983 89
5.1 Healey versus Benn: The Deputy Leadership Contest of 1981 91
5.2 Dream Ticket? Candidates and Non Candidates 100
5.3 Explaining the Election of Kinnock 107
5.4 The Performance of the Electoral College 112
5.5 Conclusion 114

6. Kinnock Defeats Benn: The Labour Party Leadership
Election of 1988 117
6.1 Benn-Heffer Challenge Kinnock-Hattersley 121
6.2 Prescott Challenges Hattersley 125
6.3 Conclusion 130

7. From Kinnock to Smith: The Labour Party Leadership
Election of 1992 133
7.1 An Uneasy Relationship: Kinnock and Smith 137
7.2 The Resignation of Kinnock and the Succession Timetable 139
7.3 The Complex Nomination Process 142
7.4 The Electoral College: A Critique 145
7.5 The Non Candidatures of Brown and Blair 148
7.6 Conclusion 152

8. From Smith to Blair: The Labour Party Leadership
Election of 1994 153
8.1 One Member One Vote 155
8.2 Candidates and Non Candidates 157
8.3 A Mandate for Modernisation: Blair and the Electoral College 166
8.4 Conclusion 169

9. From Blair to Brown: The Coronation of Brown as
Labour Party Leader 2007 173
9.1 The Blair – Brown Feud 177
9.2 The September Coup 183
9.3 Brown by Acclamation 185
9.4 The Deputy Leadership Election 188
9.5 Conclusion 190
CONTENTS vii

10. Conclusion 195

Notes 207

Appendix 223

Bibliography 227

Index 241
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Labour Party Leaders and Changes in the Party
Leadership 5

Table 2: Ideological Disposition of Candidates and Bases of PLP
Support 16

Table 3: Candidate Support in the Labour Party Leadership
Elections of 1960 and 1961 29

Table 4: Candidate Support in the Labour Party Leadership
Election of 1963 36

Table 5: The Kellner Typology of Ideological Alignments within
the Parliamentary Labour Party 1976 56

Table 6: Candidate Support in the Labour Party Leadership
Election of 1976 57

Table 7: Candidate Support in the Labour Party Leadership
Election of 1980 75

Table 8: Voting at the Wembley Conference on the Electoral
Collage 81

Table 9: Candidate Support in the Labour Party Deputy
Leadership Elections of 1981 97

Table 10: Candidate Support in the Labour Party Leadership and
Deputy Leadership Elections of 1983 106

Table 11: Candidate Support in the Labour Party Leadership and
Deputy Leadership Elections of 1988 129
LIST OF TABLES ix

Table 12: Candidate Support in the Labour Party Leadership and
Deputy Leadership Elections of 1992 146

Table 13: Candidate Support in the Labour Party Leadership and
Deputy Leadership Elections of 1994 167

Table 14: Candidate Support in the Labour Deputy Party
Leadership of 2007 190