1976 Labour Party leadership election

← 1963

25 March – 5 April 1976 (1976-03-25 – 1976-04-05)

1980 →


Candidate	James Callaghan	Michael Foot	Roy Jenkins
First ballot	84 (26.8%)	90 (28.7%)	56 (17.8%)
Final ballot	176 (56.2%)	137 (43.8%)	Withdrew


Candidate	Tony Benn	Denis Healey	Anthony Crosland
First ballot	37 (11.8%)	30 (9.6%)	17 (5.3%)
Final ballot	Withdrew	Eliminated	Eliminated

Leader before election

Harold Wilson

Elected Leader

James Callaghan

This article is part of
a series aboutJames Callaghan

Wilson's Cabinet

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The 1976 Labour Party leadership election occurred when Harold Wilson resigned as Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister. It is the only occasion when the Labour Party, whilst in government, has had a leadership election with more than one candidate.

Candidates

The new leader was elected by members of the Parliamentary Labour Party. In the first ballot, held on 25 March, six candidates vied for the leadership:

Tony Benn, Secretary of State for Energy, Member of Parliament for Bristol South East
James Callaghan, Foreign Secretary, Member of Parliament for Cardiff South East
Anthony Crosland, Secretary of State for the Environment, Member of Parliament for Great Grimsby
Michael Foot, Secretary of State for Employment, Member of Parliament for Ebbw Vale
Denis Healey, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Member of Parliament for Leeds East
Roy Jenkins, Home Secretary, Member of Parliament for Birmingham Stechford

In the wake of the news of Wilson's decision to resign, Callaghan was reported as being the favourite to succeed him. Political journalist Geoffrey Parkhouse wrote that "Barring a sensation, James Callaghan will be the next Prime Minister". He argued that the timing favoured Callaghan, with Denis Healey caught up in budget work and having alienated the left wing of the Labour Party after attacking the Tribune group in a recent speech. He doubted whether Crosland or Jenkins would stand, as they were likely to fare better under a Callaghan premiership than they had under Wilson.

Result

First ballot: 25 March 1976
Candidate	Votes	%
Michael Foot	90	28.7
James Callaghan	84	26.8
Roy Jenkins	56	17.8
Tony Benn	37	11.8
Denis Healey	30	9.6
Anthony Crosland	17	5.3
Majority	6	1.9
Turnout	314	100
Second ballot required

As a result of the first ballot, Crosland was eliminated, while Jenkins and Benn withdrew from the contest. The remaining three candidates would face each other in a second ballot, five days later. Benn recommended that his supporters vote for Michael Foot. It was reported in The Glasgow Herald that Jenkins had withdrawn, despite finishing third, as he had concluded he could not improve on his 56 votes. Indeed, that result was a disappointment to him, as he had expected to receive at least 68 votes. Most of his advisors agreed with his decision to withdraw, though one, Dickson Mabon, attempted to convince him to stay in the contest. In contrast, Denis Healey, despite finishing behind both Jenkins and Benn, reckoned he could pick up votes from many parts of the party. The Herald also characterised the second round of the contest as being to determine who would face Foot in the final ballot, and believed Healey had a chance of pulling ahead of Callaghan.

Second ballot: 30 March 1976
Candidate	Votes	%
James Callaghan	141	45.2
Michael Foot	133	42.6
Denis Healey	38	12.2
Majority	8	2.6
Turnout	312	99.4
Third ballot required

No candidate achieved an absolute majority; hence, the candidate with the lowest number of votes was eliminated (in this case Healey). Callaghan was reported to be the favourite with his supporters, believing that it was impossible that the left-wing Foot could win the votes of more than half of those who had previously supported the right-wing Healey. However, Foot supporter John Silkin believed that 26 Healey voters would back Foot, more than enough for him to emerge victorious.

A final run-off ballot was held six days later.

Third ballot: 5 April 1976
Candidate	Votes	%
James Callaghan	176	56.2
Michael Foot	137	43.8
Majority	39	12.4
Turnout	313	99.7
James Callaghan elected

Upon his election as Labour leader, Callaghan succeeded Wilson as prime minister.

References

Parkhouse, Geoffrey (17 March 1976). "Callaghan odds-on. Key to No 10 in his grasp -thanks to Wilson timing". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
Quinn, Tom. "Labour Party Leadership Elections 1922–2016". University of Essex. Archived from the original on 1 February 2017.
^ Parkhouse, Geoffrey (26 March 1976). "Jenkins and Benn opt out of fight". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
Parkhouse, Geoffrey (31 March 1976). "Healey's 38 are the 'kingmakers'". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.

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 1976 Labour Party leadership election
Outgoing Leader: Harold Wilson
Tony Benn* James Callaghan Tony Crosland Michael Foot Denis Healey Roy Jenkins*
* Withdrew after first ballot

Categories:

Misplaced Pages