Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 1992

Labour Party (UK) leadership election

18 July 1992

Candidate John Smith Bryan Gould Affiliated 38.5% 1.5% Constituency 29.3% 0.7% Parliamentary 23.2% 6.8% Total 91.0% 9.0%

Leader before election Neil Kinnock Elected Leader John Smith

The Labour Party leadership election of 1992 followed the Labour Party's failure to win the 1992 general election and the subsequent resignation of party leader Neil Kinnock.

There were only two candidates in the election, with John Smith always the clear favourite to win.^[1] The ballot took place on 18 July 1992. Affiliated organisations had 40% of the vote, while Constituency Labour Parties and the Parliamentary Labour Party had 30% each in the electoral college. Gordon Brown and Robin Cook were both seen as potential candidates, but didn't stand.

Candidates

• Bryan Gould, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Member of Parliament for Dagenham
• John Smith, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Member of Parliament for Monklands East

	Candidate	Affiliated	Constituency	Parliamentary	Total (%)
	John Smith	38.5	29.3	23.2	91.0
	Bryan Gould	1.5	0.7	6.8	9.0

John Smith was elected leader of the Labour Party with a clear majority.

Shortly after Black Wednesday in September 1992, Labour's lead in the opinion polls began to rise. By the time of his sudden death, Smith was widely predicted and expected to become prime minister at the next general election.

In the event, he would only serve two years before his death, which precipitated another leadership election.

Deputy leadership election

Labour Party (UK) deputy leadership election

18 June 1992

Candidate Margaret Beckett John Prescott Bryan Gould Affiliated 12.87% 9.42% 7.71% Constituency 19.05% 7.11% 3.87% Parliamentary 25.40% 11.64% 2.96% Total 57.32% 28.17% 14.54%

Deputy Leader before election Roy Hattersley Elected Deputy Leader Margaret Beckett

Candidates

• Margaret Beckett, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Member of Parliament for Derby South
• Bryan Gould, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Member of Parliament for Dagenham
• John Prescott, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Member of Parliament for Hull East

	Candidate	Affiliated	Constituency	Parliamentary	Total (%)
	Margaret Beckett	12.87	19.05	25.40	57.32
	John Prescott	9.42	7.110	11.64	28.17
	Bryan Gould	7.71	3.870	2.96	14.54
Margaret Beckett elected

See also

• Opinion polling for the United Kingdom general election, 1997

References

1. "A Plea for Bloodshed". The Economist. 18 April 1992. p. 64.

• Boothroyd, David. "Leaders of the Labour Party". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 16 May 2015. (unofficial website)
• LeDuc, Lawrence (26–31 March 1999). "Leadership Selection and Party Renewal" (PDF). The Consequences of Candidate Selection. 27th ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops. Mannheim: European Consortium for Political Research. pp. 8–12. Retrieved 16 May 2015.