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
Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership election, 2010 February, 2010. Two SDLP members contested the leadership election. These were: Below is a table summarising the result of the leadership election: Margaret Ritchie was duly named the new SDLP leader on 7 February, 2010. Social Democratic and Labour Party leadership election, 2010 An election for the leadership of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) was held between 5-7 February, 2010. Margaret Ritchie defeated her only challenger, Alasdair McDonnell, by 222 votes to 187 votes. The former SDLP leader, Mark Durkan, announced his intention to stand down as leader of the SDLP in September 2009, citing that he did