Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 1994

Labour Party leadership election, 1994

21 July 1994

Candidate Tony Blair John Prescott Margaret Beckett Overall result 57.0% 24.1% 18.9% Affiliated unions 52.3% 28.4% 19.3% Party members 58.2% 24.4% 17.4% MPs & MEPs 60.5% 19.6% 19.9%

Leader before election Margaret Beckett (acting) John Smith (elected) Elected Leader Tony Blair

The 1994 Labour Party leadership election was held on 21 July 1994 after the sudden death of the incumbent leader, John Smith, on 12 May. The 1994 leadership election would ultimately decide not only the Labour Party's new leader, but also the next Prime Minister; Tony Blair won the leadership and became Prime Minister after winning the 1997 general election.

The election was the first held under the new leadership election rules that had been introduced in 1993, which included an element of one member, one vote. The poll for leader was held simultaneously with a deputy leadership vote.

Candidates

Margaret Beckett had been the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, and following Smith's death was serving as acting leader; she was the only female Labour MP ever to stand for the leadership of the party (and remained so until Diane Abbott announced her candidacy on 20 May 2010). Tony Blair was, at the time of his candidature, the Shadow Home Secretary.

It has been widely speculated that Shadow Chancellor Gordon Brown did not stand due to a pact agreed with Blair at the Granita Restaurant. Shortly after John Smith's death, Roy Hattersley telephoned Blair and urged him to stand for the Party leadership. Blair informed Hattersley that he was worried about "hurting Gordon" to which Hattersley replied that he should tell Gordon Brown that there had been, "...a lot of people in the past who had wanted to be leader of the Labour Party and have come to terms with the fact that they weren't going to be" and that Brown would have to be part of a line that "goes back a very long way".^[1]

Robin Cook, the Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry stated that he would not run, as he did not believe he was attractive enough to the general electorate and that this would damage the party at the next election. John Prescott, who had stood at the 1992 deputy leadership election and lost to Beckett, stood again for both Leader and Deputy Leader.

The "electoral college" system that had been introduced meant that the votes of members of affiliated groups (mostly trade unions), the members of constituency parties, and Labour MPs were all weighted equally.

• Margaret Beckett, incumbent Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Member of Parliament for Derby South
• Tony Blair, Shadow Home Secretary, Member of Parliament for Sedgefield
• John Prescott, Shadow Secretary of State for Employment, Member of Parliament for Hull East

Result

Candidate[2]		Affiliated (33.3%)		Constituencies (33.3%)		PLP (33.3%)		Overall result
		Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	%
	Tony Blair Y	407,637	52.3	100,313	58.2	198	60.5	57.0
	John Prescott	221,367	28.4	42,053	24.4	64	19.6	24.1
	Margaret Beckett	150,422	19.3	29,990	17.4	65	19.9	18.9

Tony Blair won, and led the party to its first general election victory for twenty three years at the 1997 Election. Prescott won the deputy leadership poll, and went on to become Deputy Prime Minister during Blair's premiership. Beckett would also serve both in the Shadow Cabinet and then the Cabinet throughout Blair's term as leader, eventually becoming the final of the three Foreign Secretaries of the Blair ministries.

The next leadership election to take place occurred when Blair resigned in June 2007; this election was won by Gordon Brown, who ran uncontested.

How each MP voted

Source^[3]

See also

• Labour Party (UK) deputy leadership election, 1994

Notes

References

• Boothroyd, David, "Leaders of the Labour Party", United Kingdom Election Results, retrieved 16 May 2015