Choosing Party Leaders: Britain's Conservatives and Labour Compared

265 Pages·2020·5.212 MB·English

by  Andrew Denham, Peter Dorey, Andrew S. Roe-Crines

Choosing party leaders

Choosing party
leaders

Britain’s Conservatives and
Labour compared

Andrew Denham, Andrew S. Roe-Crines and Peter Dorey
Manchester University Press
Copyright © Andrew Denham, Andrew S. Roe-Crines and Peter Dorey 2020
The right of Andrew Denham, Andrew S. Roe-Crines and Peter Dorey to be identified as the authors
of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
Published by Manchester University Press
Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 5261 3486 8 hardback
First published 2020
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or
third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such
websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Typeset by
Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire
Contents

List of tables vi
Acknowledgements vii

List of abbreviations viii
Introduction 1
1 Towards the end of the magic circle 5
2 A democratic parliamentary Conservative Party 41
3 Enfranchising the extra-parliamentary party 79
4 From chairman to leader: the selection of Labour leaders by the
Parliamentary Labour Party, 1906–80 129
5 From Healey to Miliband: the election of Labour leaders and deputy
leaders by the Electoral College 159
6 The Labour leadership election(s) of Jeremy Corbyn 192
Conclusion 229
References 232
Index 253
v
Tables

2.1 MPs’ support in 1995 Conservative leadership contest 70
2.2 MPs’ support in first ballot of 1997 Conservative leadership contest 73

2.3 MPs’ support in second ballot of 1997 Conservative leadership
contest 73
2.4 MPs’ support in third and final ballot of 1997 Conservative
leadership contest 74
3.1 MPs’ support in first ballot of 2001 Conservative leadership contest 91
3.2 MPs’ support in second ballot of 2001 Conservative leadership
contest 92
3.3 MPs’ support in third and final ballot of 2001 Conservative
leadership contest 94
3.4 2005 vote on changing the Conservative leadership election rules 102
3.5 MPs’ support in first ballot of 2005 Conservative leadership contest 105
3.6 MPs’ support in second ballot of 2005 Conservative leadership
contest 105
3.7 Conservative members’ support in final ballot of 2005 leadership
contest 106
3.8 Conservative Party members’ views on leadership (survey
conducted 1–4 July 2016) 114
3.9 Conservative members’ degree of support for Brexit, 2019 122
4.1 PLP leadership elections 1922–80 132
5.1 Labour Party leadership and deputy leadership elections,
1981–2010 163
6.1 Results of the 2015 Labour Party leadership election 213
6.2 Results of the 2016 Labour Party leadership election 222
6.3 Results of the 2017 general election 227
vi
Acknowledgements

The authors would like to pay tribute to our friends and families who have
supported us throughout the research and writing processes, particularly Carl

Bowler.
We would also like to thank the staff at the Labour History Archive and
Study Centre, Manchester; The Bodleian Library, Oxford; and The Churchill
Centre, Cambridge. Special thanks to The National Archives, Kew, for their
unfailing efficiency in responding to numerous requests for archival materials
over the last two years.
We would also like to thank the many members of the House of Commons
and the House of Lords whom we approached to interview, particularly Neil
(Lord) Kinnock for his very helpful comments.
Finally, we are especially grateful to Mark Stuart (University of Nottingham),
Brendan Evans (University of Huddersfield) and Timothy Heppell (University
of Leeds) for their very helpful comments on earlier drafts.
Finally, our gratitude must also be extended to Tony Mason and Tom Brook
for their assistance.
vii
Abbreviations

AEU Amalgamated Engineering Union
ASTMS Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs

AUEW Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers
CAB Cabinet
CCO Conservative Central Office
CLP Constituency Labour Parties
CM Cabinet Minutes
CPA Conservative Party Archive
EEC European Economic Community
EETPU Electoral, Electronic Telecommunications and Plumbing Union
ESRC Economic and Social Research Council
GLC Greater London Council
GMB General Municipal Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union
GMCs General Management Committees
IFTS in-from-the-start
ILP Independent Labour Party
IRA Irish Republican Army
LRC Labour Representation Committee
MEPs Members of the European Parliament
MPs Members of Parliament
NA National Archives
NEC National Executive Committee
NHS National Health Service
NUA National Union of Conservative & Unionist Associations
NUGMW National Union of General and Municipal Workers
NUM National Union of Mineworkers
OMOV One Member One Vote
viii
Abbreviations
PLP Parliamentary Labour Party
POEU Post Office Engineering Union
PR proportional representation
SDP Social Democratic Party
STV Single Transferable Vote
TGWU Transport and General Workers Union
UKIP UK Independence Party
USDAW Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
VAT value-added tax
WM War Cabinet Minutes

ix