Labour Party (UK) deputy leadership election, 2007
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2007 Labour Party deputy leadership election was a British political party election for the position of Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. John Prescott, the previous Deputy Leader, announced on 10 May 2007 that he was standing down from that position and that he would be leaving as Deputy Prime Minister about the same time that Tony Blair tendered his resignation as Prime Minister.[1] Harriet Harman was elected Deputy Leader on 24 June 2007 with 50.43% of the final redistributed vote.
There had been reports that an increasing number of Labour MPs and members of the NEC had been been attempting to get the election for the position of deputy leader abandoned in order to save the £2,000,000 it was estimated that the contest would cost.[2], [3] There would have had to have been a special conference convened if such an alteration was to be made.
Contents |
[edit] Successfully nominated candidates
- Hilary Benn[4], [5], [6] — 47 nominations.
- Hazel Blears [7] — 49 nominations.
- Jon Cruddas[8], [9] — 49 nominations.
- Peter Hain[10], [11] — 51 nominations.
- Harriet Harman[12] — 65 nominations.
- Alan Johnson[13] — 73 nominations.
All six declared candidates secured more than the 45 nominations from MPs that was the minimum requirement for them to get onto the ballot paper by close of nominations at 12:30 UTC+1 on 17 May 2007.[14][15]
[edit] Results
The election took place using Alternative Vote in an electoral college, with a third of the votes allocated to MPs and MEPs, a third to individual members of the Labour Party, and a third to individual members of affiliated organisations, mainly trade unions. So in the tables below, each of the first three columns adds up to 33.33%.
Harriet Harman won the contest, her victory heavily depending on support from individual party members with preference votes narrowing her opponent's lead and she only led in the final round.[16] The final total percentage votes for the two main candidates after redistribution were almost identical to those of the final round of the 1981 contest.
[edit] Round 1
| Candidate | Members of affiliated organisations | Individual members | MPs and MEPs | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Cruddas | 9.09% | 5.67% | 4.63% | 19.39% | |
| Harriet Harman | 4.35% | 8.04% | 6.54% | 18.93% | |
| Alan Johnson | 4.55% | 5.53% | 8.08% | 18.16% | |
| Hilary Benn | 4.93% | 7.21% | 4.27% | 16.40% | |
| Peter Hain | 6.64% | 3.87% | 4.81% | 15.32% | |
| Hazel Blears | 3.77% | 3% | 4.99% | 11.77% | |
Hazel Blears finished in 6th place in the first round and was therefore eliminated.
[edit] Round 2
| Candidate | Members of affiliated organisations | Individual members | MPs and MEPs | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Johnson | 5.91% | 6.35% | 11.47% | 23.74% | |
| Harriet Harman | 5.15% | 8.80% | 7.29% | 21.23% | |
| Jon Cruddas | 9.64% | 6.01% | 4.74% | 20.39% | |
| Hilary Benn | 5.56% | 7.93% | 4.74% | 18.22% | |
| Peter Hain | 7.08% | 4.24% | 5.10% | 16.42% | |
Peter Hain finished in 5th place and was eliminated in the second round of voting.
[edit] Round 3
| Candidate | Members of affiliated organisations | Individual members | MPs and MEPs | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Johnson | 7.81% | 7.31% | 12.78% | 27.90% | |
| Harriet Harman | 7.12% | 10.15% | 8.61% | 25.88% | |
| Jon Cruddas | 11.01% | 6.58% | 6.30% | 23.89% | |
| Hilary Benn | 7.39% | 9.29% | 5.65% | 22.33% | |
Hilary Benn finished in 4th place and was eliminated in the third round of voting.
[edit] Round 4
| Candidate | Members of affiliated organisations | Individual members | MPs and MEPs | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Johnson | 10.25% | 10.70% | 15.39% | 36.35% | |
| Harriet Harman | 9.46% | 13.82% | 10.29% | 33.58% | |
| Jon Cruddas | 13.61% | 8.81% | 7.65% | 30.06% | |
Jon Cruddas finished in 3rd place and was eliminated in the fourth round of voting.
[edit] Round 5
| Candidate | Members of affiliated organisations | Individual members | MPs and MEPs | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harriet Harman | 16.18% | 18.83% | 15.42% | 50.43% | |
| Alan Johnson | 17.15% | 14.50% | 17.91% | 49.56% | |
Harriet Harman elected as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.
[edit] Suggested candidates not standing
Jeremy Corbyn announced in December 2006 he was considering running for the Deputy Leadership. However, there was no subsequent statement from him on it and he nominated Hilary Benn for the Deputy Leadership.[17] No other eligible person — i.e. Labour MP — announced they were considering standing for the position except for the six nominated candidates and Jeremy Corbyn.
There was some speculation about Ed Balls, Patricia Hewitt[18], David Miliband[19] and Jack Straw standing for the position, but no sign that they had ever said they were inclined to run and all had ruled themselves out before nominations opened.
[edit] Timeline of events
[edit] Candidate spending
The amount of donations made to each candidate for their campaigns[20] were:
- Hilary Benn — £4,000
- Hazel Blears — £73,000
- Jon Cruddas — £143,000
- Peter Hain — £180,000-£200,000
- Harriet Harman — £46,000, plus £50,000 of her own loans
- Alan Johnson — £54,000
[edit] See also
[edit] References and notes
- ^ Prescott tells Labour: I'm sorry. BBC News Online (28 September 2006).
- ^ Labour may call off deputy leader race. The Independent (21 June 2007).
- ^ Axe Labour deputy post, MP says. BBC News Online (2006-12-10).
- ^ Benn to run for deputy position. BBC News Online (27 October 2006).
- ^ Brown on brink of Downing Street. BBC News Online (2007-05-16).
- ^ Deputy hopefuls make their case. BBC News Online (2007-05-16).
- ^ Blears to run for Labour deputy and admits party 'disengaged'. The Guardian (23 February 2007).
- ^ Ex-No 10 aide Cruddas will stand. BBC News Online (2006-09-27).
- ^ Leftwinger launches deputy leadership campaign. The Guardian (2006-10-18).
- ^ Labour deputy race gathers pace. BBC News Online (2006-09-12).
- ^ Hain and Harman claim places on deputy ballot. The Guardian (2007-05-10).
- ^ Harman intends Labour deputy bid. BBC News Online (2006-09-15).
- ^ U.K.'s Johnson abandons Labour Party Leadership Race (Update2). Bloomberg L.P. (2006-11-09).
- ^ McDonnell short for leadership race. Reuters (2007-05-15).
- ^ Labour leadership, close of nominations. Labour Party website (2007-05-17).
- ^ Labour Party Deputy Leadership results. Labour Party (2007-06-24).
- ^ Meacher set to challenge Brown from left. The Guardian (20 December 2006).
- ^ Patricia Hewitt backed Harriet Harman, in response to a question from John Pienaar on BBC Radio Five Live's The Weekend News on 9 December 2006
- ^ Profile: David Miliband. BBC News Online (14 September 2006).
- ^ Patrick Wintour and David Hencke. "Hain failed to declare £100,000 of donations", The Guardian, 10 January 2008. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
| Labour Party (UK) Deputy leadership elections |
|---|
| 1970 (Short) | 1976 (Foot) | 1980 (Healey) | 1981 (Healey) | 1983 (Hattersley) | 1988 (Hattersley) | 1992 (Beckett) | 1994 (Prescott) | 2007 (Harman) |
