1983 Labour Party leadership election (UK)

1983 Labour Party leadership election

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Candidate Neil Kinnock Roy Hattersley Overall result 71.3% 19.3% Affiliated unions 72.6% 27.2% Party members 91.5% 1.9% Labour MPs 49.3% 26.1%   Candidate Eric Heffer Peter Shore Overall result 6.3% 3.1% Affiliated unions 0.1% 0.1% Party members 6.6% — Labour MPs 14.3% 10.3%

Leader before election Michael Foot Elected Leader Neil Kinnock

The 1983 Labour Party leadership election was an election in the United Kingdom for the leadership of the Labour Party. It occurred when then leader Michael Foot resigned after winning only 209 seats at the 1983 general election, a loss of 60 seats compared to their performance at the previous election four years earlier. This was the worst showing for Labour since 1935 until 2019.

Neil Kinnock was elected Leader with 71% of the Electoral College vote; runner-up Roy Hattersley stood simultaneously for Deputy Leader and was elected as Deputy.^[1]

The election took place at the Labour Party Conference, with affiliated trade unions holding 40% of the votes, delegates from Constituency Labour Parties holding 30% of the votes, and the Parliamentary Labour Party holding the final 30% of the votes.