Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK) of the Party until a new leader is elected. If a vacancy in the leadership occurs while the Labour Party is in government, then the Cabinet, in consultation with the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party, chooses a new leader, who serves until a new leader is elected. To date, the only Deputy Leaders who have gone on to become the elected leader of the Labour Party are Clement Attlee and Michael Foot. Margaret Beckett briefly served as Labour leader following the unexpected death of John Smith in 1994. Harriet Harman was leader after Gordon Brown resigned in 2010
Deputy First Minister of Scotland post holder is also required to have direct responsibility for a cabinet secretary post. The current Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, is also Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills. The Additional Member System used to elect Members of the Scottish Parliament makes it difficult for a single party to have an absolute majority. Between 1999 and 2007, the Scottish Executive was formed by a Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition, with the leader of Scottish Labour serving as First Minister and the leader of the Scottish Lib Dems serving as Deputy First Minister. Although the Scottish National Party (SNP) formed a