1976 Labour Party leadership election

1976 Labour Party leadership election | <- 1963 | 25 March – 5 April 1976 (1976-03-25 – 1976-04-05) | 1980 ->

|
|

|  |  |  |

|
|
|

Candidate  | James Callaghan | Michael Foot | Roy Jenkins
First ballot  | 84 (26.8%)  | 90 (28.7%) | 56 (17.8%)
Final ballot  | 176 (56.2%) | 137 (43.8%)  | Withdrew

* * *

|  |  |
Candidate  | Tony Benn | Denis Healey | Anthony Crosland
First ballot  | 37 (11.8%)  | 30 (9.6%)  | 17 (5.3%)
Final ballot  | Withdrew | Eliminated | Eliminated

* * *

| Leader before election

Harold Wilson

| Elected Leader

James Callaghan

|

|  |

This article is part of
a series about

James Callaghan

|

* Labour Party
* MP for Cardiff South East

* * *

Wilson's Cabinet

* Decimalisation
* Race Relations Act 1968
* 1975 EEC Referendum

* * *

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

* 1976 leadership election
* Cabinet
* Lib–Lab pact
* Winter of Discontent
* 1979 Scottish devolution referendum
* 1979 Welsh devolution referendum
* Vote of no confidence
* 1979 budget
* 1979 general election

* * *

* v
* t
* e

The 1976 Labour Party leadership election occurred when Harold Wilson resigned as Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister. It is the only occasion when the Labour Party, whilst in government, has had a leadership election with more than one candidate.

## Candidates

[edit]

The new leader was elected by members of the Parliamentary Labour Party. In the first ballot, held on 25 March, six candidates vied for the leadership:

* Tony Benn, Secretary of State for Energy, Member of Parliament for Bristol South East
* James Callaghan, Foreign Secretary, Member of Parliament for Cardiff South East
* Anthony Crosland, Secretary of State for the Environment, Member of Parliament for Great Grimsby
* Michael Foot, Secretary of State for Employment, Member of Parliament for Ebbw Vale
* Denis Healey, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Member of Parliament for Leeds East
* Roy Jenkins, Home Secretary, Member of Parliament for Birmingham Stechford

In the wake of the news of Wilson's decision to resign, Callaghan was reported as being the favourite to succeed him. Political journalist Geoffrey Parkhouse wrote that "Barring a sensation, James Callaghan will be the next Prime Minister". He argued that the timing favoured Callaghan, with Denis Healey caught up in budget work and having alienated the left wing of the Labour Party after attacking the Tribune group in a recent speech. He doubted whether Crosland or Jenkins would stand, as they were likely to fare better under a Callaghan premiership than they had under Wilson.[1]

## Result

[edit]

First ballot: 25 March 1976[2]

Candidate  | Votes  | %
Michael Foot | 90  | 28.7
James Callaghan | 84  | 26.8
Roy Jenkins | 56  | 17.8
Tony Benn | 37  | 11.8
Denis Healey | 30  | 9.6
Anthony Crosland | 17  | 5.3
Majority  | 6  | 1.9
Turnout  | 314  | 100
Second ballot required

As a result of the first ballot, Crosland was eliminated, while Jenkins and Benn withdrew from the contest. The remaining three candidates would face each other in a second ballot, five days later. Benn recommended that his supporters vote for Michael Foot.[3] It was reported in The Glasgow Herald that Jenkins had withdrawn, despite finishing third, as he had concluded he could not improve on his 56 votes. Indeed, that result was a disappointment to him, as he had expected to receive at least 68 votes. Most of his advisors agreed with his decision to withdraw, though one, Dickson Mabon, attempted to convince him to stay in the contest.[3] In contrast, Denis Healey, despite finishing behind both Jenkins and Benn, reckoned he could pick up votes from many parts of the party. The Herald also characterised the second round of the contest as being to determine who would face Foot in the final ballot, and believed Healey had a chance of pulling ahead of Callaghan.[3]

Second ballot: 30 March 1976

Candidate  | Votes  | %
James Callaghan | 141  | 45.2
Michael Foot | 133  | 42.6
Denis Healey | 38  | 12.2
Majority  | 8  | 2.6
Turnout  | 312  | 99.4
Third ballot required

No candidate achieved an absolute majority; hence, the candidate with the lowest number of votes was eliminated (in this case Healey). Callaghan was reported to be the favourite with his supporters, believing that it was impossible that the left-wing Foot could win the votes of more than half of those who had previously supported the right-wing Healey. However, Foot supporter John Silkin believed that 26 Healey voters would back Foot, more than enough for him to emerge victorious.[4]

A final run-off ballot was held six days later.

Third ballot: 5 April 1976

Candidate  | Votes  | %
James Callaghan | 176 | 56.2
Michael Foot | 137  | 43.8
Majority  | 39  | 12.4
Turnout  | 313  | 99.7
James Callaghan elected

Upon his election as Labour leader, Callaghan succeeded Wilson as prime minister.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Parkhouse, Geoffrey (17 March 1976). "Callaghan odds-on. Key to No 10 in his grasp -thanks to Wilson timing". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
2. ^ Quinn, Tom. "Labour Party Leadership Elections 1922–2016". University of Essex. Archived from the original on 1 February 2017.
3. ^ a b c Parkhouse, Geoffrey (26 March 1976). "Jenkins and Benn opt out of fight". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
4. ^ Parkhouse, Geoffrey (31 March 1976). "Healey's 38 are the 'kingmakers'". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Benn, Tony (1996). The Benn Diaries. London: Arrow. ISBN 978-0-099-63411-9.

* v
* t
* e

Labour Party

History

| Main|

* History of the Labour Party

|

Topics|

* Electoral history
* General election manifestos
* History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom
* European Parliamentary Labour Party
* Scottish Labour Party (1888)
* Independent Labour Party
* Labour Representation Committee
* Gladstone–MacDonald pact
* National Labour Organisation
* Labour Independent Group
* Campaign for Democratic Socialism
* Lib–Lab pact
* Formation of SDP
* Gang of Four
* Limehouse Declaration
* Militant tendency
* The longest suicide note in history
* One more heave
* New Labour
* Tony's Cronies
* Blue Labour
* One Nation Labour
* Chakrabarti Inquiry

Leadership

| Leaders|

* Hardie
* Henderson
* Barnes
* MacDonald
* Henderson
* Adamson
* Clynes
* MacDonald
* Henderson
* Lansbury
* Attlee
* Morrison^
* Gaitskell
* Brown^
* Wilson
* Callaghan
* Foot
* Kinnock
* Smith
* Beckett^
* Blair
* Brown
* Harman^
* Miliband
* Harman^
* Corbyn
* Starmer

|

Deputy Leaders|

* Clynes
* Graham
* Attlee
* Greenwood
* Morrison
* Griffiths
* Bevan
* Brown
* Jenkins
* Short
* Foot
* Healey
* Hattersley
* Beckett
* Prescott
* Harman
* Watson
* Rayner

General Secretaries|

* MacDonald
* Henderson
* Middleton
* Phillips
* Williams
* Barker^
* Nicholas
* Hayward
* Mortimer
* Whitty
* Sawyer
* McDonagh
* Triesman
* Carter
* Watt
* Collins
* McNicol
* Formby
* Evans

Treasurers|

* Henderson
* MacDonald
* Henderson
* Lathan
* Greenwood
* Gaitskell
* Bevan
* Nicholas
* Davies
* Callaghan
* Atkinson
* Varley
* Booth
* McCluskie
* Burlison
* Prosser
* Elsby
* Dromey
* Holland

Leaders in the Lords|

* Haldane
* Cripps
* Ponsonby
* Snell
* Addison
* Jowitt
* Alexander
* Pakenham
* Shackleton
* Shepherd
* Peart
* Hughes
* Richard
* Jay
* Williams
* Amos
* Ashton
* Royall
* Smith of Basildon

Scottish Labour Leaders|

* Dewar
* McLeish
* Jamieson^
* McConnell
* Jamieson^
* Alexander
* Jamieson^
* Gray
* Lamont
* Sarwar^
* Murphy
* Gray^
* Dugdale
* Rowley^
* Baillie^
* Leonard
* Baillie^
* Sarwar

PLP Chairs|

* Hardie
* Henderson
* Barnes
* MacDonald
* Henderson
* Hodge*
* Wardle*
* Adamson
* Clynes
* MacDonald
* Henderson
* Lansbury
* Attlee
* Lees-Smith*
* Pethick-Lawrence*
* Greenwood*
* Gaitskell
* Wilson
* Houghton
* Mikardo
* Hughes
* Willey
* Dormand
* Orme
* Hoyle
* Soley
* Corston
* Clwyd
* Lloyd
* Watts
* Cryer
* Morden

EPLP Leaders|

* Stewart
* Prescott
* Castle
* Lomas
* Martin
* Seal
* Ford
* Green
* David
* Donnelly
* Murphy
* Titley
* Willmott
* Corbett

* = wartime, in opposition
^ Interim/Acting

Internal elections and selections

| Leadership elections|

* 1922 Ramsay MacDonald
* 1931 Arthur Henderson
* 1932 George Lansbury
* 1935 Clement Attlee
* 1955 Hugh Gaitskell
* 1960
* 1961
* 1963 Harold Wilson
* 1976 James Callaghan
* 1980 Michael Foot
* 1983 Neil Kinnock
* 1988
* 1992 John Smith
* 1994 Tony Blair
* 2007 Gordon Brown
* 2010 Ed Miliband
* 2015 Jeremy Corbyn
* 2016
* 2020 Keir Starmer

* * *

|

Deputy Leadership elections|

* 1952 Herbert Morrison
* 1953
* 1956 Jim Griffiths
* 1959 Aneurin Bevan
* 1960 George Brown
* 1961
* 1962
* 1970 Roy Jenkins
* 1971
* 1972 Edward Short
* 1976 Michael Foot
* 1980 Denis Healey
* 1981
* 1983 Roy Hattersley
* 1988
* 1992 Margaret Beckett
* 1994 John Prescott
* 2007 Harriet Harman
* 2015 Tom Watson
* 2020 Angela Rayner

Shadow Cabinet elections and reshuffles|

* Sep 1931 (Henderson)
* Nov 1931
* 1932 (Lansbury)
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935 (Attlee)
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956 (Gaitskell)
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963 (Wilson)
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1979 (Callaghan)
* 1980 (Foot)
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983 (Kinnock)
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992 (Smith)
* 1993
* 1994 (Blair)
* 1995
* 1996
* 2010 (Miliband)
* June 2016 (Corbyn)
* May 2021 (Starmer)
* November 2021
* 2023

Party structure

| Constitution|

* Clause IV

|

Executive|

* National Executive Committee
* General Secretary
* Treasurer

Parliamentary|

* Parliamentary Labour Party
* Chief Whip of the Labour Party

Conference|

* Labour Party Conference

Subnational|

* Scottish Labour
* Welsh Labour
* Labour Party in Northern Ireland

Directly elected city mayoral authorities|

* London Labour

CLPs|

* Constituency Labour Party
* Labour International

Miscellaneous|

* National Policy Forum
* Affiliated trade unions
* Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation
* Labour Co-operative
* Co-operative Party
* Labour – Federation of Labour Groups

Associated organisations

| List|

* Organisations associated with the Labour Party

|

Sectional groups|

* Young Labour
* Labour International
* LGBT+ Labour
* Labour Campaign for Trans Rights
* Labour Students
* BAME Labour
* Disability Labour

Factional groups|

* Blue Labour
* Campaign for Labour Party Democracy
* Christians on the Left
* Compass
* Fabian Society
* Young Fabians
* Future Britain
* Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance
* Jewish Labour Movement
* Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform
* Labour CND
* Labour Friends of Israel
* Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East
* Labour Growth Group
* Labour Party Irish Society
* Labour Representation Committee (2004)
* Labour Women's Network
* Momentum
* Open Labour
* National Union of Labour and Socialist Clubs
* Progressive Britain
* Revolutionary Communist Party Formerly Socialist Appeal
* Socialist Health Association
* Socialist Educational Association
* Socialist Environment and Resources Association
* Socialist Campaign Group
* Socialist Youth Network
* Socialist societies

Media publications|

* LabourList
* Tribune

Party alliances

| Current|

* Party of European Socialists
* Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
* Progressive Alliance
* Socialist International

|

* v
* t
* e

1976 Labour Party leadership election

Outgoing Leader: Harold Wilson

* Tony Benn*
* James Callaghan
* Tony Crosland
* Michael Foot
* Denis Healey
* Roy Jenkins*

* Withdrew after first ballot
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template