2007 Labour Party leadership election (UK)

On 2 March, Jack Straw casually declined to run for the leadership after reports that someone had placed a £500 bet on his winning.^[30] On 20 March, the Labour Party NEC met to decide on rules for the upcoming leadership elections.^[31] On 13 April, Brown met US President George W. Bush for the first time, in a reportedly amicable discussion.^[32] On 15 April he encouraged rivals to "bring it on", in response to numerous reports suggesting that he would face three or four contenders for the leadership.^[33]

On 17 April, David Miliband declared that he would not be a candidate for the Labour leadership or Deputy leadership, and had not wavered in his position on that issue in the past three years. He subsequently announced his support for Brown in any leadership election.^[34] On 20 April, The Independent reported that many of Blair's closest allies were eager to unite the Blair and Brown camps and prevent any challenge to Gordon Brown from dividing the party.^[35] The next day, The Guardian reported that 217 MPs had already signed up to back Gordon Brown's leadership. There were also reports that even among the undecided, many were keen to prevent the progress of Michael Meacher and John McDonnell.^[36]

On 27 April,

On 3 May, Charles Clarke changed his position towards Brown, praising him publicly and denying that he was poised to challenge for the Labour leadership.^[40] In an interview with The Times the following day, he claimed that he could get a sufficient number of nominations to stand for the Labour leadership, but that the Labour Party did not "have the appetite" for such a contest.^[41] John Reid and John Hutton also announced their support for Brown, Reid going on to announce that he would be stepping down as Home Secretary upon the departure of Blair and Prescott.^[42][43]

On 9 May, in the last Prime Minister's Questions before Blair announced the vacancy for the Labour leadership,

On 10 May, Blair announced to the Sedgefield Labour Party that he would stand down as prime minister on 27 June 2007, and that he would be requesting Labour's NEC to seek a new party leader. Shortly afterwards, John Prescott announced that he would stand down as deputy prime minister on the same day and that he had written to the NEC to announce his resignation as party Deputy Leader. Labour's NEC met on 13 May to finalise a timetable for the handover, confirming that Blair would remain leader until a new leader was elected, and giving any potential candidates three active Parliament days in which to submit their papers.^[45][46][47] Brown, Michael Meacher and John McDonnell held a joint policy debate in London.^[48]

On 10 May, John McDonnell and Michael Meacher delayed a decision over which one should run, describing their respective levels of support as "too close to call".^[49] Interviewed by Red Pepper, John McDonnell stated that he could and would not support Michael Meacher, since he had voted with New Labour on many issues, and that it was a matter of them sitting down together to compare how many votes they had and decide a way forward.^[50] On 14 May Michael Meacher declared that he would not be a candidate in the Labour leadership election, since he did not have enough MPs support to get onto the ballot paper, going on to say he would be backing John McDonnell to get a left-wing candidate onto the ballot paper, though the possibility of this was still in doubt.^[51]

On 10 May, Peter Hain (Secretary of State for Northern Ireland) and Harriet Harman (Solicitor General) both announced that they had more than the minimum necessary number of nominations to appear on the Ballot paper for the Deputy Leadership Election, claiming 47 and 44 nominations respectively.^[52]

Candidates

John McDonnell and Gordon Brown were the only candidates as the election process began with the nominations round. In order to secure a place on the ballot paper, candidates needed to submit their nominations to the National Executive Committee (NEC) by 17 May, each supported by at least 12.5% of Labour MPs (45 Labour MPs, including the candidate themselves). Brown, the only successfully nominated candidate, was declared leader at a special Labour conference on 24 June 2007.^[53]

• Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer,^[54] long the favourite candidate to succeed Tony Blair, received 313 nominations and was successfully nominated.^[55]
• John McDonnell, chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, pledged to merge Old Labour and New Labour into what he calls Real Labour, and to "save the Labour government from itself". He was hoping to get the backing of all those who had been backing Michael Meacher, but did not do so;^[56] with 29 nominations, he was 16 short of the minimum required number, and was not successfully nominated.^[57][58][59]
• Michael Meacher (withdrew on 14 May 2007), former Minister of State for the Environment, was a candidate but withdrew after failing to get enough nominations. On 27 April 2007, he and McDonnell announced that whichever of them had the support of fewer Labour MPs at the point of Tony Blair's resignation would withdraw from the campaign and support the other.^[60] On 10 May, they delayed their announcement because "levels of support for each were too close to call".^[61] Meacher gave his support to McDonnell on 14 May, but not all his supporters switched allegiance.^[62]

Campaign

As nominations opened on 15 May 2007, it became clear that Brown was well past the minimum requirement of nominations, with the support of around 282 MPs, while John McDonnell had only 27 nominations; still well short of the 45 required. In the Deputy Leadership Race, Harriet Harman, Hazel Blears, Peter Hain and Alan Johnson all had more than the minimum required nominations, with Jon Cruddas having 44 nominations and Hilary Benn 34.^[63] On 16 May, John McDonnell alleged that many of Brown's supporters were using wrecking tactics to ensure that the decision did not proceed to a ballot.^[64] Later that day, Brown secured 308 nominations, to John McDonnell's 29; although nominations were to be open for another day there were insufficient undeclared MPs remaining for anyone except Gordon Brown to be on the ballot, meaning he need only attend hustings and wait to be declared leader by the NEC. At this stage, John McDonnell conceded defeat. In the Deputy Leadership Race, Jon Cruddas and Hilary Benn secured the required nominations.^[65][66] Nominations closed on 17 May, with Brown having secured 313 nominations compared to John McDonnell's 29. Harriet Harman (65 nominations), Hazel Blears (49 nominations), Peter Hain (51 nominations), Alan Johnson (73 nominations), Jon Cruddas (49 nominations) and Hilary Benn (47 nominations) all qualified to appear on the Deputy leadership ballot.^[67][68]

At the husting at the University of Warwick on 20 May, Brown was heckled regarding the 2003 War in Iraq. He replied by saying that although there had been mistakes, it had been the right thing to do. Candidates for the Deputy Leadership election were asked which factors they considered important to the next general election. Jon Cruddas named the issue of insecurity at work; Hilary Benn said that more housing was needed; Peter Hain described inequality as "the biggest challenge we face as a government"; Alan Johnson focused on social mobility; Hazel Blears mentioned education and employment opportunities; Harriet Harman said that Labour needed to "win back the trust and the confidence of the British people" and emphasised the importance of policy implementation. Blears, Harman and Benn all focused on the importance of party unity.^[69][70]

At the Bradford husting on 27 May,

Only Gordon Brown attained over 45 nominations and was thus elected unopposed.

Suggested candidates who declined to run

During the months leading up to Tony Blair's resignation, media attention focused on a wide range of Labour politicians, most of whom publicly refused to stand:

• Secretary of State for International Development, was touted as a possible candidate to succeed Blair. However, he backed Gordon Brown
  .
• Charles Clarke, former Home Secretary,^[78] had insisted he would stand if David Miliband did not, but later softened his position with praise for Brown, also saying that the Labour Party didn't have the appetite for a contest. He indicated that he would like to serve in a future Labour Cabinet;^[79][80][81] however, he was not offered any position, and went on to lose his seat in the subsequent general election in 2010.
• John Hutton, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, had said there should be a serious opponent to Brown, but on 6 May 2007 declared his support for Brown.^[82][83]
• Hampstead and Highgate
  and former transport minister, had repeatedly threatened to stand as a stalking horse candidate against Blair from 2005 onwards; however, she backed Brown for the leadership.
• Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Education.^[84] In autumn 2006, he was (alongside John Reid) being touted as one of very few serious contenders, but later backed Brown.^[85]
• Birmingham Selly Oak, said that she would stand against Brown for the leadership as a leftwing candidate. However, she later backed John McDonnell
  .
• Alan Milburn ruled out standing for the Labour leadership on 11 May 2007, but previously had refused to rule it out.^[86][87]
• David Miliband, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Speculation that he would be persuaded to stand was intense during spring 2007, including suggestions that Blair saw him as a possible successor.^[88] However, Miliband declined to stand, saying publicly that this had been his unwavering position for three years, and that he would vote for Brown.^[89][90][91]
• John Reid, Home Secretary, had said he would not reveal whether he would stand or not until there was a vacancy, but on 6 May announced he would be voting for Brown and had decided to leave the Cabinet along with Blair.^{[82][83][92][93]}
• Jack Straw, Leader of the House of Commons, announced on 25 March that he would be running Gordon Brown's leadership campaign.^[94] He was appointed Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in Brown's first cabinet.^[95]

Transition to Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Tony Blair tendered his resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after ten years, to Queen Elizabeth II on 27 June 2007 and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown was asked by The Queen to form a new government.^[96] Unlike Blair with John Prescott, Brown opted to keep his new deputy, Harriet Harman, out of the position of Deputy Prime Minister.

See also

• 2007 Labour Party deputy leadership election
• 2010 United Kingdom general election
• Blair–Brown deal

References