Michael Foot for his rumpled appearance. A centrist faction of the party broke away in 1981 to form the SDP. Foot led Labour into the 1983 general election, when the party obtained its lowest share of the vote since the 1918 general election and the fewest parliamentary seats it had had at any time since before 1945. He resigned after the election, and was succeeded as leader by Neil Kinnock. Among the books he authored are "Guilty Men" (1940); "The Pen and the Sword" (1957), a biography of Jonathan Swift; and a biography of Aneurin Bevan. Foot was born in Lipson Terrace,
1980 Labour Party (UK) leadership election 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. The result of the first ballot of Labour MPs on 4 November was as follows: In the second ballot, held six days later, there was a run-off between Healey and Foot. This was the last leadership election to be conducted amongst Members of Parliament only, an electoral college was introduced for future contests. 1980 Labour Party (UK) leadership election The 1980 Labour Party leadership election was held following the resignation of