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
Timeline of the 2007 Labour Party (UK) leadership election election on the Alternative Vote system, Harriet Harman won the Deputy Leadership by 50.4% to Alan Johnson's 49.6% after preferences were re-distributed, Jon Cruddas coming narrowly third. Harman had been behind until the last round of redistributions. Tony Blair tendered his resignation as Prime Minister to the Queen on 27 June 2007 and Gordon Brown was asked by the Queen to form a new government. Unlike Blair with John Prescott, Brown opted to keep his new deputy, Harriet Harman, out of the position of Deputy Prime Minister. Timeline of the 2007 Labour Party (UK) leadership election The timeline for the