1987 Labour Party (UK) Shadow Cabinet election stand. Michael Meacher, Robert Hughest, Robin Cook, Frank Dobson, Gordon Brown, Jo Richardson and Jack Straw gained seats. 1987 Labour Party (UK) Shadow Cabinet election The annual election to the Labour Party's Shadow Cabinet (more formally, its "Parliamentary Committee") was conducted in 1987. In addition to the 16 members elected, the Leader (Neil Kinnock), Deputy Leader (Roy Hattersley), Labour Chief Whip (Derek Foster), Labour Leader in the House of Lords (Cledwyn Hughes), and Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (Stanley Orme) were automatically members. Following the 1987 general election, there were significant changes to the cabinet. Barry Jones, Peter Shore,
History of the Labour Party (UK) lowest level since the days of Michael Foot. During May 2008, Labour suffered heavy defeats in the London mayoral election, local elections and the loss in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, culminating in the party registering its worst ever opinion poll result since records began in 1943, of 23%, with many citing Brown's leadership as a key factor. Membership of the party also reached a low ebb, falling to 156,205 by the end of 2009: over 40 per cent of the 405,000 peak reached in 1997 and thought to be the lowest total since the party was founded. Finance proved