Labour Party (UK) deputy leadership election, 2007

Labour Party (UK) deputy leadership election

6 June 2007 - 22 June 2007

Candidate Harriet Harman Alan Johnson First preferences 18.93% 18.16% Two-candidate preferred 50.43% 49.56%   Candidate Jon Cruddas Hilary Benn First preferences 19.39% 16.40% Two-candidate preferred – –   Candidate Peter Hain Hazel Blears First preferences 15.32% 11.77% Two-candidate preferred – –

Deputy Leader before election John Prescott Elected Deputy Leader Harriet Harman

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. However Gordon Brown, who was elected leader on the same day, did not subsequently appoint her deputy prime minister, instead leaving the office vacant.

There had been reports that an increasing number of Labour MPs and members of the NEC had 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.

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]

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.

Round 1

Candidate		Affiliates	Members	MPs/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 N	3.77%	3%	4.99%	11.77%

Round 2

Candidate		Affiliates	Members	MPs/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 N	7.08%	4.24%	5.10%	16.42%

Round 3

Candidate		Affiliates	Members	MPs/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 N	7.39%	9.29%	5.65%	22.33%

Round 4

Candidate		Affiliates	Members	MPs/MEPs	Total
	Alan Johnson	10.25%	10.70%	15.39%	36.35%
	Harriet Harman	9.46%	13.82%	10.29%	33.58%
	Jon Cruddas N	13.61%	8.81%	7.65%	30.06%

Round 5

Candidate		Affiliates	Members	MPs/MEPs	Total
	Harriet Harman	16.18%	18.83%	15.42%	50.43%
	Alan Johnson	17.15%	14.50%	17.91%	49.56%

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.

Timeline of events

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

See also

• Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 2007

References and notes

1. "Prescott tells Labour: I'm sorry". BBC News Online. 28 September 2006.
2. Morris, Nigel; Brown, Colin (21 June 2007). "Labour may call off deputy leader race". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
3. "Axe Labour deputy post, MP says". BBC News Online. 2006-12-10.
4. "Benn to run for deputy position". BBC News Online. 27 October 2006.
5. "Brown on brink of Downing Street". BBC News Online. 2007-05-16.
6. "Deputy hopefuls make their case". BBC News Online. 2007-05-16.
7. Wintour, Patrick (23 February 2007). "Blears to run for Labour deputy and admits party 'disengaged'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
8. "Ex-No 10 aide Cruddas will stand". BBC News Online. 2006-09-27.
9. Tempest, Matthew (2006-10-18). "Leftwinger launches deputy leadership campaign". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
10. "Labour deputy race gathers pace". BBC News Online. 2006-09-12.
11. Hencke, David (2007-05-10). "Hain and Harman claim places on deputy ballot". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
12. "Harman intends Labour deputy bid". BBC News Online. 2006-09-15.
13. "U.K.'s Johnson abandons Labour Party Leadership Race (Update2)". Bloomberg L.P. 2006-11-09.
14. "McDonnell short for leadership race". Reuters. 2007-05-15.
15. "Labour leadership, close of nominations". Labour Party website. 2007-05-17.
16. "Labour Party Deputy Leadership results". Labour Party. 2007-06-24.
17. Mulholland, Hélène (20 December 2006). "Meacher set to challenge Brown from left". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
18. 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
19. "Profile: David Miliband". BBC News Online. 14 September 2006.
20. Patrick Wintour and David Hencke (10 January 2008). "Hain failed to declare £100,000 of donations". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-01-10.