1922 Labour Party leadership election (UK)

This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (July 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

1922 Labour Party leadership election

21 November 1922 (1922-11-21)

1931 →


Candidate	Ramsay MacDonald	J. R. Clynes
Popular vote	61	56
Percentage	52.1%	47.9%

Leader before election

J. R. Clynes

Elected Leader

Ramsay MacDonald

The 1922 Labour Party leadership election was the first leadership election for the posts of chairman and leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party. Previously the position had been simply the "Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party".

The election took place when the incumbent chairman J. R. Clynes was challenged by the former leader Ramsay MacDonald. MacDonald opposed the way Clynes led the party.

Candidates

John Clynes, incumbent leader of the Labour Party, Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Platting
Ramsay MacDonald, former leader of the Labour Party, MP for Aberavon

Result

Ramsay MacDonald was elected in a single ballot of Labour MPs on 14 December.

Only ballot: 21 November 1922
Candidate	Votes	%
Ramsay MacDonald	61	52.14
J. R. Clynes	56	47.86
Majority	5	4.28
Turnout	117	82.39
Ramsay MacDonald elected

Aftermath

After the election Clynes was given the newly created office of deputy leader of the Labour Party. As Labour leader, MacDonald became prime minister in 1924 and from 1929 to 1931, at which point he became head of a National Government that was opposed by the bulk of the Labour Party. He was succeeded as party leader by Arthur Henderson. MacDonald was subsequently expelled from the party. In 1932, George Lansbury became leader unopposed, as one of the few experienced Labour MPs left in Parliament, but trades union opposition to his pacifism led to his resignation in 1935 and replacement by his deputy Clement Attlee. A month later Attlee was challenged in a new election.

References

Marquand, David (1977), Ramsay MacDonald, London: Jonathan Cape, pp. 285–287

Labour Party

History

Main

History of the Labour Party

Topics

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 1922 Labour Party leadership election
Incumbent Leader: J. R. Clynes
J. R. Clynes Ramsay MacDonald

v t e Ramsay MacDonald
Premierships	Labour Government, 1924 Labour Government, 1929–1931 First National Government, 1931 Second National Government, 1931–1935
General elections	1923 1924 1929 1931 1935
Constituencies	Leicester Aberavon Seaham Combined Scottish Universities
Career	Gladstone–MacDonald pact 1922 party leadership election Campbell Case Defeat of the MacDonald ministry Zinoviev letter Great Depression London Naval Treaty India Round Table Conferences MacDonald Award National Government Anglo-German Naval Agreement
Family	Margaret Ethel MacDonald (wife) Malcolm MacDonald (son) Ishbel MacDonald (daughter) Sheila MacDonald (daughter)
Cultural depictions	Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (TV, 1981) Gandhi (Film, 1982) Number 10 (TV, 1983) Mosley (TV, 1998)
Related articles	1921 Woolwich East by-election 1936 Combined Scottish Universities by-election Lady Margaret Sackville MacDonald letter MV Reina del Pacifico National Labour Organisation

This United Kingdom election-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Categories: