Timeline for the Labour Party (UK) leadership elections, 2007
Encyclopedia
The timeline for the British Labour Party
leadership elections of 2007 is a timeline of events relating to the final years of Tony Blair
's tenure as leader of the party and Prime Minister and the leadership elections to find replacements for him and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, from his announcement that he would not lead Labour into a fourth General Election, concluding with Gordon Brown becoming Prime Minister.
. Labour went on to win a third successive term at the May 2005 General Election
with a decreased majority of 66, with Tony Blair pledging to serve another full term.
Labour and Tony Blair subsequently had a surge in popularity, at the time of terrorist bombings of London
of July 2005, but by the Spring of 2006 were facing significant difficulties, most notably with scandals over failures by the Home Office
to deport illegal immigrants and national campaigns by many political parties and think tanks saying that the United Kingdom was being overrun by immigrants. Worries over the potential increase of support for the British National Party
during the 2006 Local Election campaign saw many Labour backbenchers and activists begin to demand a timetable from Tony Blair for his departure, with many suggesting that it should be sooner rather than later.
Speculation over the timing of Tony Blair's resignation had been amplified by a variety of politicians and newspapers making their own predictions. On 6 September 2006, The Sun
reported that Blair would announce a timetable on 31 May 2007, with his replacement to take office by the end of July, and on 21 April The Guardian
reported that the Brown camp were working on the assumption that Tony Blair would announce the candidacy open on 9 May 2007, the day after power-sharing was due to start in Northern Ireland
, following which the new Labour leader would be elected on 15 July 2007.
Talk of David Miliband
, Alan Milburn
, Charles Clarke
or John Reid
as possible candidates was almost constant, although the former consistently denied any ambition to stand and the latter three refused to make a decision until there was a vacancy, ultimately declining in the week before Tony Blair requested the NEC to find a successor.
See also 2004 in the United Kingdom
, 2005 in the United Kingdom
.
became the first Labour MP to announce an intention to stand for the leadership when Blair resigned.
On 5 September 2006, 17 Labour MP
s signed a letter asking Blair to resign, accompanied by press reports alleging that up to 80 MPs were willing to sign. Later, senior party members stated that Tony Blair would not be Prime Minister at the next Labour Party conference and on 6 September, Tom Watson
, one of the MPs who signed the letter, resigned as Junior Defence Minister
along with seven Parliamentary Private Secretaries
: Khalid Mahmood
, Wayne David
, Ian Lucas
, Mark Tami
, Chris Mole
, David Wright
and Iain Wright
.
On 7 September, Jack Straw
stated that he expected the Prime Minister to announce a timetable for his departure in May 2007 and Tony Blair announced that the September 2006 Labour Party Conference and TUC
Conference would be the last he would attend as party leader, despite which he was heckled at the Trades Union Congress
on 12 September by members calling for him to resign immediately.
On 23 September, John Hutton became the first serving Cabinet Minister to say that Gordon Brown
should face a serious challenger for Labour's leadership.
At the 2006 Labour Party Conference on 25 September, Gordon Brown announced his candidacy for the leadership, while three days later at the same conference John Prescott announced that he would stand down when Tony Blair resigned as Prime Minister.
During the debate on The Queen's Speech
on 15 November, Tony Blair said Conservative
leader David Cameron
was a "flyweight
against a heavyweight
" at the next general election, widely interpreted as implicit support for Gordon Brown
See also 2006 in the United Kingdom
.
.
On 16 January, Tony Blair declared his intention to attend a summit of EU leaders as Prime Minister on 21 June – 22 June 2007, and on 28 January stated that he was "not finished yet", and intended to complete the public sector reforms he had started, as well as leading Labour into local and devolved Elections on 3 May.
On 17 January, John McDonnell claimed that support for his leadership challenge had grown to within striking distance of the necessary backing. Michael Meacher, former Minister of State for the Environment
in the DETR
and its successor Defra
announced that he was also seeking nominations from MPs and was considering standing. On 22 February he became the third Labour MP to announce his intention to stand for the leadership, although critics in the media expressed doubt over the extent of backbench support for either challenger at this point.
On 2 March, Jack Straw casually declined to run for the leadership after reports that someone had placed a £500 bet on his winning. On 20 March, the Labour Party NEC met to decide on rules for the upcoming leadership elections. On 13 April, Gordon Brown met U.S. President George W. Bush
for the first time, in a reportedly amicable discussion. 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.
David Miliband declared on 17 April 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 Gordon Brown in any leadership election. On 20 April, The Independent
reported that many of Tony Blair's closest allies were eager to unite the Blair and Brown camps and prevent any challenge to Gordon Brown from dividing the party. 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.
On 27 April, Michael Meacher and John McDonnell agreed that whichever had fewer supporters the day after Tony Blair resigned as Labour leader would step aside, to allow the other a stronger chance to secure the support of the 45 MPs necessary to qualify for the ballot paper. On 1 May, Tony Blair announced that he would announce his resignation as Labour leader the following week, following which he expected a campaign of about seven weeks. He also announced his support for Gordon Brown to succeed him as Labour leader and Prime Minister.. On 3 May, the day after Blair and Brown's tenth anniversary as Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, elections were held for English and Scottish Local Government, the Scottish Parliament
and the Welsh Assembly. Labour faced mixed results, making gains in some areas, with slightly higher support than the previous year in the Local Elections and fairly minimal losses in the devolved elections, remaining the largest party in Wales and having one less seat than the SNP in Scotland, while losing many English council seats, mainly to the Conservative Party.
On 3 May, Charles Clarke changed his position towards Gordon Brown, praising him publicly and denying that he was poised to challenge for the Labour leadership. 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. 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.
Writing in the News of the World
on 6 May, Tony Blair said that while David Cameron had learned the tactics of opposition, Labour could still win the next General Election and that Gordon Brown had shown sound judgement in his steering of the economy, which was the way to win. On 9 May, in the last Prime Minister's Questions before Tony Blair announced the vacancy for the Labour leadership, David Cameron described the Labour government as "like The Living Dead
". Tony Blair ignored Cameron's taunts regarding the possible chaos caused by interim arrangements for election of a new Labour leader and the upcoming resignation of John Reid from the government.
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 Tony 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. Gordon Brown, Michael Meacher and John McDonnell held a joint policy debate in London.
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". 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. 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 in order to get a left-wing candidate onto the ballot paper, though the possibility of this was still in doubt.
On 10 May, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Peter Hain
and Solicitor General
Harriet Harman
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.
having 44 nominations and Hilary Benn 34.
On 16 May John McDonnell alleged that many of Gordon Brown's supporters were using wrecking tactics to ensure that the decision did not proceed to a ballot. Later that day Gordon 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 husting
s 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.
Nominations closed on 17 May, with Gordon 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.
At the husting at the University of Warwick
on 20 May, Gordon 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.
At the Bradford husting on 27 May, Jan Wilson
, leader of Sheffield City Council
, told Gordon Brown that the shadow of Iraq hung over the party and that Brown had had an easy time on it during the leadership campaign. Gordon Brown said he was happy to discuss the decision to remove the Ba'athist regime, but that his priority now was to focus on the next steps, with numbers of UK troops decreasing and UK forces taking an "overwatch role".
At the BAME (black
, asian
and minority ethnic
) husting in Leicester
on 30 May, Deputy Leadership candidates were split on the question of whether there should be all-ethnic minority shortlists; Hazel Blears, Jon Cruddas and Peter Hain all backed the idea, in order to increase numbers of Black and Asian MPs. Alan Johnson said that shortlists could reflect a need for more ethnic minority MPs, but that he was not sure that all-minority shortlists were the answer, and Hilary Benn said that he was not persuaded of the case for such shortlists either. Harriet Harman made no comment on the issue, except to say that there needed to be more MPs from ethnic minorities.
On 6 June, ballot papers were sent out to Labour MPs, Labour MEPs, Labour Party members and members of affiliated unions for the position of Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.
At the Cardiff
husting on 9 June, Gordon Brown described the Conservatives as caught between "what they think they should say" and "what they really believe". He accused them of being obsessed with Grammar Schools
, and said that parts of the Conservative Party wanted to scrap the NHS
. He associated himself with decisions taken over the war in Iraq again, saying again that although mistakes had been made it had been the right thing to do. He also pledged that if necessary he would find more money to prevent job losses at Remploy
, a provider of jobs for the disabled, and that promises made at the G8 summit to tackle poverty in Africa
would be kept.
At the Oxford
Youth husting (for people under the age of 27) on 10 June, Gordon Brown said that Labour must modernise and reform again to further involve young people in decision making, including the use of online facilities such as MySpace
. Hilary Benn was critical of Bob Geldof
and defended the settlement of the recent G8 Summit in Germany, while Hazel Blears focused on anti-social behaviour. Peter Hain accused Home Secretary
John Reid of "fanning up" the previous week's debate over possible introduction of new stop and search powers for police, saying "I don't believe in macho posturing on law and order and terrorism". Harriet Harman said that she felt the law needed changing to ensure that the government was informed if terrorist suspects en route to other countries faced the possibility of torture on arrival, and Jon Cruddas focused heavily on allegations of special rendition
of terrorist suspects to Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Alan Johnson stated the need for testing in schools to assess how well schools and individual pupils were doing; Jon Cruddas agreed but said he felt that it had gone too far.
The Deputy Leadership Ballot closed at 17:00 UTC+1 on 22 June. Gordon Brown was declared leader at a special conference on 24 June, while in an election on the Alternative Vote
system, Harriet Harman won the Deputy Leadership by 50.4% to Alan Johnson's 49.6% after preferences were re-distributed, Jon Cruddas coming narrowly third. Harman had been behind until the last round of redistributions.
was asked by the Queen to form a new government.
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
leadership elections of 2007 is a timeline of events relating to the final years of Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
's tenure as leader of the party and Prime Minister and the leadership elections to find replacements for him and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, from his announcement that he would not lead Labour into a fourth General Election, concluding with Gordon Brown becoming Prime Minister.
Initial signals that Blair's leadership was to end
On 30 September 2004, Tony Blair said he would not seek a fourth term as Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
. Labour went on to win a third successive term at the May 2005 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
with a decreased majority of 66, with Tony Blair pledging to serve another full term.
Labour and Tony Blair subsequently had a surge in popularity, at the time of terrorist bombings of London
Timeline of the 2005 London bombings
The following is a timeline of the 7 July 2005 London bombings and 21 July 2005 London bombings.All times are in British Summer Time .-7 July 2005:...
of July 2005, but by the Spring of 2006 were facing significant difficulties, most notably with scandals over failures by the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
to deport illegal immigrants and national campaigns by many political parties and think tanks saying that the United Kingdom was being overrun by immigrants. Worries over the potential increase of support for the British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
during the 2006 Local Election campaign saw many Labour backbenchers and activists begin to demand a timetable from Tony Blair for his departure, with many suggesting that it should be sooner rather than later.
Speculation over the timing of Tony Blair's resignation had been amplified by a variety of politicians and newspapers making their own predictions. On 6 September 2006, The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
reported that Blair would announce a timetable on 31 May 2007, with his replacement to take office by the end of July, and on 21 April The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reported that the Brown camp were working on the assumption that Tony Blair would announce the candidacy open on 9 May 2007, the day after power-sharing was due to start in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, following which the new Labour leader would be elected on 15 July 2007.
Talk of David Miliband
David Miliband
David Wright Miliband is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for South Shields since 2001, and was the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2007 to 2010. He is the elder son of the late Marxist theorist Ralph Miliband...
, Alan Milburn
Alan Milburn
Alan Milburn is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Darlington from 1992 until 2010...
, Charles Clarke
Charles Clarke
Charles Rodway Clarke is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006.-Early life:...
or John Reid
John Reid (politician)
John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan, PC is a British politician, who served as a Labour Party Member of Parliament and cabinet minister under Tony Blair, most notably as Defence Secretary and then Home Secretary...
as possible candidates was almost constant, although the former consistently denied any ambition to stand and the latter three refused to make a decision until there was a vacancy, ultimately declining in the week before Tony Blair requested the NEC to find a successor.
See also 2004 in the United Kingdom
2004 in the United Kingdom
Events from the year 2004 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - HM Queen Elizabeth II* Prime Minister - Tony Blair, Labour Party-January:...
, 2005 in the United Kingdom
2005 in the United Kingdom
Events from the year 2005 in the United Kingdom. The year is dominated by the 7/7 London bombings.-Incumbents:*Monarch – Elizabeth II*Prime Minister – Tony Blair -January:* 1 January...
.
Demands for Tony Blair to announce a resignation timetable
On 15 July 2006, John McDonnellJohn McDonnell (politician)
John Martin McDonnell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington since 1997; he serves as Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, the Labour Representation Committee, and the "Public Services Not Private Profit Group"...
became the first Labour MP to announce an intention to stand for the leadership when Blair resigned.
On 5 September 2006, 17 Labour MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
s signed a letter asking Blair to resign, accompanied by press reports alleging that up to 80 MPs were willing to sign. Later, senior party members stated that Tony Blair would not be Prime Minister at the next Labour Party conference and on 6 September, Tom Watson
Tom Watson (politician)
Thomas Anthony Watson is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for West Bromwich East since 2001. Watson was a Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office from 2008 to 2009...
, one of the MPs who signed the letter, resigned as Junior Defence Minister
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
along with seven Parliamentary Private Secretaries
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
: Khalid Mahmood
Khalid Mahmood
Khalid Mahmood is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Perry Barr since 2001.-Political career:...
, Wayne David
Wayne David
Wayne David is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Caerphilly since 2001. He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Wales Office from 2008 to 2010...
, Ian Lucas
Ian Lucas
Ian Colin Lucas is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Wrexham since 2001...
, Mark Tami
Mark Tami
Mark Richard Tami is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Alyn and Deeside since 2001.-Early life:...
, Chris Mole
Chris Mole
Christopher David "Chris" Mole is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Ipswich from a by-election in 2001, after the death of Jamie Cann, and was re-elected in 2005...
, David Wright
David Wright (politician)
David Wright is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Telford since 2001. He was an assistant government whip from June 2009 to May 2010.-Early and personal life:...
and Iain Wright
Iain Wright
Iain David Wright is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool since 2004, and was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for apprenticeships and 14-19 reform in the Department for Children, Schools and Families until 11 May...
.
On 7 September, Jack Straw
Jack Straw
Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...
stated that he expected the Prime Minister to announce a timetable for his departure in May 2007 and Tony Blair announced that the September 2006 Labour Party Conference and TUC
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
Conference would be the last he would attend as party leader, despite which he was heckled at the Trades Union Congress
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
on 12 September by members calling for him to resign immediately.
On 23 September, John Hutton became the first serving Cabinet Minister to say that Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
should face a serious challenger for Labour's leadership.
At the 2006 Labour Party Conference on 25 September, Gordon Brown announced his candidacy for the leadership, while three days later at the same conference John Prescott announced that he would stand down when Tony Blair resigned as Prime Minister.
During the debate on The Queen's Speech
State Opening of Parliament
In the United Kingdom, the State Opening of Parliament is an annual event that marks the commencement of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is held in the House of Lords Chamber, usually in November or December or, in a general election year, when the new Parliament first assembles...
on 15 November, Tony Blair said Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
leader David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
was a "flyweight
Flyweight
Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing less than 112 lb but above 108 lb .-Professional boxing:...
against a heavyweight
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
" at the next general election, widely interpreted as implicit support for Gordon Brown
See also 2006 in the United Kingdom
2006 in the United Kingdom
Events from the year 2006 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:* Monarch - HM Queen Elizabeth II* Prime Minister - Anthony Blair, Labour Party-January:...
.
Campaigning commences
In January 2007, Gordon Brown outlined a number of his potential policies for Britain, mentioning citizen responsibility, education, efforts to solve problems in Africa and "a new style of politics" as his priorities. On 17 January, he spoke of "a new world order" while on a tour of India, and announced backing for India's bid for a place as a permanent member on the UN Security Council, and on many other international bodies. On 21 March, at 12:30pm, he delivered the budget for the 2007–08 financial year, his last budget as Chancellor of the ExchequerChancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
.
On 16 January, Tony Blair declared his intention to attend a summit of EU leaders as Prime Minister on 21 June – 22 June 2007, and on 28 January stated that he was "not finished yet", and intended to complete the public sector reforms he had started, as well as leading Labour into local and devolved Elections on 3 May.
On 17 January, John McDonnell claimed that support for his leadership challenge had grown to within striking distance of the necessary backing. Michael Meacher, former Minister of State for the Environment
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...
in the DETR
Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions was a UK Cabinet position created in 1997, with responsibility for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions ....
and its successor Defra
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom...
announced that he was also seeking nominations from MPs and was considering standing. On 22 February he became the third Labour MP to announce his intention to stand for the leadership, although critics in the media expressed doubt over the extent of backbench support for either challenger at this point.
On 2 March, Jack Straw casually declined to run for the leadership after reports that someone had placed a £500 bet on his winning. On 20 March, the Labour Party NEC met to decide on rules for the upcoming leadership elections. On 13 April, Gordon Brown met U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
for the first time, in a reportedly amicable discussion. 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.
David Miliband declared on 17 April 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 Gordon Brown in any leadership election. On 20 April, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
reported that many of Tony Blair's closest allies were eager to unite the Blair and Brown camps and prevent any challenge to Gordon Brown from dividing the party. The next day, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
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.
On 27 April, Michael Meacher and John McDonnell agreed that whichever had fewer supporters the day after Tony Blair resigned as Labour leader would step aside, to allow the other a stronger chance to secure the support of the 45 MPs necessary to qualify for the ballot paper. On 1 May, Tony Blair announced that he would announce his resignation as Labour leader the following week, following which he expected a campaign of about seven weeks. He also announced his support for Gordon Brown to succeed him as Labour leader and Prime Minister.. On 3 May, the day after Blair and Brown's tenth anniversary as Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, elections were held for English and Scottish Local Government, the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament election, 2007
The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999...
and the Welsh Assembly. Labour faced mixed results, making gains in some areas, with slightly higher support than the previous year in the Local Elections and fairly minimal losses in the devolved elections, remaining the largest party in Wales and having one less seat than the SNP in Scotland, while losing many English council seats, mainly to the Conservative Party.
On 3 May, Charles Clarke changed his position towards Gordon Brown, praising him publicly and denying that he was poised to challenge for the Labour leadership. In an interview with The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
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. 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.
Writing in the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
on 6 May, Tony Blair said that while David Cameron had learned the tactics of opposition, Labour could still win the next General Election and that Gordon Brown had shown sound judgement in his steering of the economy, which was the way to win. On 9 May, in the last Prime Minister's Questions before Tony Blair announced the vacancy for the Labour leadership, David Cameron described the Labour government as "like The Living Dead
Living Dead
Living Dead is a blanket term for various films, series, and other forms of media that all originated from, and includes, the seminal 1968 horror film Night of the Living Dead conceived by George A. Romero and John A. Russo...
". Tony Blair ignored Cameron's taunts regarding the possible chaos caused by interim arrangements for election of a new Labour leader and the upcoming resignation of John Reid from the government.
Tony Blair asks Labour NEC to seek a new leader
On 10 May Tony Blair announced to the SedgefieldSedgefield (UK Parliament constituency)
Sedgefield is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
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 Tony 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. Gordon Brown, Michael Meacher and John McDonnell held a joint policy debate in London.
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". Interviewed by Red Pepper
Red Pepper (magazine)
Red Pepper is an independent ‘red, green and radical’ magazine based in the UK. For most of its history it appeared monthly, but relaunched as a bi-monthly during 2007.- Origins :...
, 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. 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 in order to get a left-wing candidate onto the ballot paper, though the possibility of this was still in doubt.
On 10 May, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of...
Peter Hain
Peter Hain
Peter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...
and Solicitor General
Solicitor General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, often known as the Solicitor General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to advise the Crown and Cabinet on the law...
Harriet Harman
Harriet Harman
Harriet Ruth Harman QC is a British Labour Party politician, who is the Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, and was MP for the predecessorPeckham constituency from 1982 to 1997...
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.
Leadership elections
As nominations opened on 15 May it became clear that Gordon 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 CruddasJon Cruddas
Jonathan Cruddas is a British Labour Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for Dagenham and Rainham. He was first elected in 2001 to the seat of Dagenham....
having 44 nominations and Hilary Benn 34.
On 16 May John McDonnell alleged that many of Gordon Brown's supporters were using wrecking tactics to ensure that the decision did not proceed to a ballot. Later that day Gordon 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 husting
Husting
A husting originally referred to a physical platform from which representatives presented their views or cast votes before a parliamentary or other election body...
s 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.
Nominations closed on 17 May, with Gordon 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.
At the husting at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
on 20 May, Gordon 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.
At the Bradford husting on 27 May, Jan Wilson
Jan Wilson
Jan Wilson CBE was a Labour councillor in Sheffield and formerly the leader of Sheffield City Council. She became leader of the opposition in 2008 when the Liberal Democrats took control of the Council....
, leader of Sheffield City Council
Sheffield City Council
Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors...
, told Gordon Brown that the shadow of Iraq hung over the party and that Brown had had an easy time on it during the leadership campaign. Gordon Brown said he was happy to discuss the decision to remove the Ba'athist regime, but that his priority now was to focus on the next steps, with numbers of UK troops decreasing and UK forces taking an "overwatch role".
At the BAME (black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
, asian
British Asian
British Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...
and minority ethnic
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
) husting in Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
on 30 May, Deputy Leadership candidates were split on the question of whether there should be all-ethnic minority shortlists; Hazel Blears, Jon Cruddas and Peter Hain all backed the idea, in order to increase numbers of Black and Asian MPs. Alan Johnson said that shortlists could reflect a need for more ethnic minority MPs, but that he was not sure that all-minority shortlists were the answer, and Hilary Benn said that he was not persuaded of the case for such shortlists either. Harriet Harman made no comment on the issue, except to say that there needed to be more MPs from ethnic minorities.
On 6 June, ballot papers were sent out to Labour MPs, Labour MEPs, Labour Party members and members of affiliated unions for the position of Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.
At the Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
husting on 9 June, Gordon Brown described the Conservatives as caught between "what they think they should say" and "what they really believe". He accused them of being obsessed with Grammar Schools
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
, and said that parts of the Conservative Party wanted to scrap the NHS
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
. He associated himself with decisions taken over the war in Iraq again, saying again that although mistakes had been made it had been the right thing to do. He also pledged that if necessary he would find more money to prevent job losses at Remploy
Remploy
Remploy Ltd is a government-owned company in the United Kingdom which provides employment and employment placement services for disabled people. It was established in 1945 under the terms of the 1944 Disabled Persons Act, and opened its first factory in Bridgend, Wales, in 1946...
, a provider of jobs for the disabled, and that promises made at the G8 summit to tackle poverty in Africa
Poverty in Africa
Poverty in Africa refers to the lack of basic human needs faced by certain segments of African society. African nations typically fall toward the bottom of any list measuring small size economic activity, such as income per capita or GDP per capita, despite a wealth of natural resources...
would be kept.
At the Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
Youth husting (for people under the age of 27) on 10 June, Gordon Brown said that Labour must modernise and reform again to further involve young people in decision making, including the use of online facilities such as MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. Hilary Benn was critical of Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
and defended the settlement of the recent G8 Summit in Germany, while Hazel Blears focused on anti-social behaviour. Peter Hain accused Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
John Reid of "fanning up" the previous week's debate over possible introduction of new stop and search powers for police, saying "I don't believe in macho posturing on law and order and terrorism". Harriet Harman said that she felt the law needed changing to ensure that the government was informed if terrorist suspects en route to other countries faced the possibility of torture on arrival, and Jon Cruddas focused heavily on allegations of special rendition
Extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition is the abduction and illegal transfer of a person from one nation to another. "Torture by proxy" is used by some critics to describe situations in which the United States and the United Kingdom have transferred suspected terrorists to other countries in order to torture the...
of terrorist suspects to Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Alan Johnson stated the need for testing in schools to assess how well schools and individual pupils were doing; Jon Cruddas agreed but said he felt that it had gone too far.
The Deputy Leadership Ballot closed at 17:00 UTC+1 on 22 June. Gordon Brown was declared leader at a special conference on 24 June, while in an election on the Alternative Vote
Instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...
system, Harriet Harman won the Deputy Leadership by 50.4% to Alan Johnson's 49.6% after preferences were re-distributed, Jon Cruddas coming narrowly third. Harman had been behind until the last round of redistributions.
Transition to Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Tony Blair tendered his resignation as Prime Minister to the Queen on 27 June 2007 and Gordon BrownGordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
was asked by the Queen to form a new government.