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
Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn The Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn began when Jeremy Corbyn was elected as Leader of the UK Labour Party in September 2015, the election having been triggered by the resignation of Ed Miliband in the wake of Labour's defeat at the 2015 general election. At the same time, Corbyn became the Leader of the Opposition. Corbyn faced a second leadership election in 2016, when he was challenged by Owen Smith, but was re-elected in September. Having felt disillusioned with a lack of a left-wing voice in the leadership contest, Corbyn decided to stand