Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 1994
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A leadership election was held in 1994 for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, after the death of incumbent leader John Smith. The system was the first held under the new leadership election rules, including an element of one member one vote, which had been introduced in 1993.
Beckett had served as interim leader, whilst Blair had been Shadow Home Secretary. It has been widely speculated that Gordon Brown did not stand due to a pact with Blair at the Granita restaurant.
The 'electoral college' system meant that members of affiliated groups (mostly trades unions), the members of constituency parties, and Labour MPs were weighted equally.
| Affiliated | Constituencies | PLP | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Blair | 52.3 | 58.2 | 60.5 | 57.0 |
| John Prescott | 28.4 | 24.4 | 19.6 | 24.1 |
| Margaret Beckett | 19.3 | 17.4 | 19.9 | 18.9 |
Blair won, and took the party to its first general election victory for 23 years at the 1997 general election. Prescott became his Deputy, and Beckett and Brown have continually served in the Shadow Cabinet and then the Cabinet.
[edit] References
| Labour Party (UK) leadership elections |
|---|
|
1922 (Macdonald) | 1935 (Attlee) | 1955 (Gaitskell) | 1960 | 1961 | 1963 (Wilson) | 1976 (Callaghan) | 1980 (Foot) | 1983 (Kinnock) | 1988 | 1992 (Smith) | 1994 (Blair) | 2007 |
