1983 Labour Party (UK) leadership election 1983 Labour Party (UK) leadership election The 1983 Labour Party leadership election was an election in the United Kingdom for the leadership of the Labour Party. It occurred when former leader Michael Foot resigned after winning only 209 seats at the 1983 general election, a loss of 60 seats compared to their performance at the previous election four years earlier. This was the worst showing for Labour since 1931. Neil Kinnock was elected Leader with 71% of the Electoral College vote; runner-up Roy Hattersley stood simultaneously for Deputy Leader and was elected as Deputy. The election took place at Labour
John Smith (Labour Party leader) replacing it with "one member, one vote" at the 1993 party conference. However, his overall cautious approach to reform, which was dubbed "one more heave", sought to avoid controversy and win the next election by capitalising on the unpopularity of the Conservative government. This frustrated many modernisers like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and after Smith's sudden death in May 1994, he was succeeded as Leader by Blair, who undertook the subsequent re-branding of Labour as New Labour, winning the 1997 general election in a landslide. Smith was born at Baddarroch, Dalmally, Argyll, the eldest of three children of Sarah