1980 Labour Party leadership election (UK)

none

The 1980 Labour Party leadership election was held following the resignation of James Callaghan, who had been Prime Minister from 1976 to 1979 and had stayed on as leader of the Labour Party for eighteen months in order to oversee an orderly transition to his favoured successor, Denis Healey, over his own deputy Michael Foot. However, during this period the party had become bogged down in internal arguments about its procedures and future direction. Initially, the candidates were thought likely to be Denis Healey, Peter Shore and John Silkin, but Michael Foot was persuaded to stand by left wingers who believed that only he could defeat Healey. In the event, Foot won by a margin of 10 votes in the final ballot of MPs. In 1998 Ivor Crewe and Anthony King alleged that at least five (unnamed) Labour MPs who defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981 deliberately voted for Foot in order to give the Labour Party a man whom they regarded as an ostensibly unelectable left wing leader (although none of the SDP's founding "Gang of Four" did so).

On the morning following the announcement of Callaghan's resignation Denis Healey was reported by the press to be the favourite to win the contest. At this point, Michael Foot was understood to have decided not to stand, following discussions with Peter Shore as to who was best placed to successfully challenge Healey. John Silkin, who like Foot and Shore was considered to be on the left wing of the Party, had announced his candidacy, but he was not considered to have a realistic chance of beating Healey. It was thought possible that Tony Benn, another potential candidate, might "boycott" the election. If he stood however it was thought another MP on Labour's right wing might stand, possibly Bill Rodgers. At this point the bookmaker Ladbrokes made Healey clear favourite to win, offering odds of 4–5 on his being successful, while in contrast giving Shore odds of 6 1 and Silkin 10–1. By the following day, though, there was pressure on Foot to stand. While he indicated he had not yet made a final decision, The Glasgow Herald reported that it was thought unlikely that he would change his mind given Silkin made clear he would not withdraw in Foot's favour. Thus the election was reported as being likely to be a three cornered fight, with Healey's supporters predicting a win for their candidate on the first ballot. Benn, meanwhile, spoke out against the contest, arguing the leadership should not be decided until new franchise rules which replaced the system of MPs electing the leader with an electoral college could be brought in in 1981. Political journalist William Russell reported that Foot's intervention meant the prospects of a Healey win on the first ballot went from being "fair" to being "dashed". Foot's profile was given a boost when Callaghan asked him, in his position as deputy leader, to replace him at Prime Minister's Questions, until a new leader was elected. Healey had had two long spells in government, having served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 until 1970. He had first stood for parliament in 1945 and had been an MP since 1952. Like Foot he had been an unsuccessful candidate in the last Labour leadership contest

Although both Shore and Silkin had served less than 20 years in parliament, they too had previously served as cabinet ministers. Shore had been in the House of Commons since 1964 and had held a number of ministerial appointments in the Wilson and Callaghan governments, also serving as Harold Wilson's Parliamentary Private Secretary between 1965 and 1966. He also had a reputation as "an inveterate anti European" and had supported Foot's unsuccessful bid to become Labour leader in 1976.

Foot's reaction to his victory included telling reporters that he was "as strong in my socialist convictions as I have ever been", suggesting that he would not abandon his position on Labour's left. Foot's election was considered an important factor in the creation of the SDP by figures from Labour's right the following year. Ultimately Foot's hopes of leading Labour to victory were dashed as the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher won a landslide victory at the next general election in 1983 and Labour achieved only a 27.6% share of the vote, its worst performance since 1918. This was the last Labour leadership election to be conducted amongst Members of Parliament only; an electoral college was introduced for future contests.