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1935 Labour Party leadership election

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Field	Value
election_name	1935 Labour Party leadership election
flag_image	Labour_Party_first_logo.png
type	presidential
ongoing	no
previous_election	1932 Labour Party leadership election
previous_year	1932
next_election	1955 Labour Party leadership election
next_year	1955
1blank	First ballot
2blank	Second ballot
election_date
image1	Person attlee2.jpg
image1_size	150x150px
candidate1	Clement Attlee
1data1	58 (43.0%)
2data1	88 (64.7%)
image2	HerbertMorrison2.jpg
image2_size	150x150px
candidate2	Herbert Morrison
1data2	44 (32.6%)
2data2	48 (35.3%)
image3	ArthurHGreenwood.jpg
image3_size	150x150px
candidate3	Arthur Greenwood
1data3	33 (24.4%)
2data3	Eliminated
title	Leader
before_election	Clement Attlee (interim)
after_election	Clement Attlee

The 1935 Labour Party leadership election took place on 26 November 1935 when Herbert Morrison and Arthur Greenwood challenged Clement Attlee, the incumbent party leader of only one month and one day. Attlee, previously Deputy Leader, had been appointed as an interim leader the previous month when George Lansbury resigned and the general election was looming.

With the Labour Party now having roughly three times as many MPs as in the 1931-5 Parliament, both Morrison and Greenwood stood in the annual election for leader, feeling that Attlee's appointment had only been intended as an interim measure. Morrison had not been an MP at the time of the October appointment, whilst Greenwood had declined to offer himself as a candidate then because he was strongly associated with trade union leaders such as Ernest Bevin, who were widely regarded as the reasons for forcing Lansbury to resign, a move that the vast majority of Labour MPs opposed.

Candidates

Clement Attlee, incumbent interim Leader of the Labour Party, Member of Parliament for Limehouse
Arthur Greenwood, former Minister of Health, Member of Parliament for Wakefield
Herbert Morrison, Leader of the London County Council, Member of Parliament for Hackney South

Results

The first round of the contest took place on 26 November 1935:

Name	Votes	%
Clement Attlee	58	43.0
Herbert Morrison	44	32.6
Arthur Greenwood	33	24.4

As the lowest-placed candidate, Greenwood was eliminated from the race.

The second contest took place on 3 December:

Name	Votes	%
Clement Attlee	88	64.7
Herbert Morrison	48	35.3

With a clear majority, Attlee retained the party leadership.

Herbert Morrison later claimed that he was denied the leadership of the Labour Party in the 1935 election by the votes of Labour MPs who were members of New Welcome Lodge. Morrison's backer Hugh Dalton made similar claims, and went further than Morrison by claiming to have been shown the summons for the meeting at which the voting was decided. Dalton believed that the members of New Welcome Lodge backed Arthur Greenwood, who was a member of the lodge, and then backed Clement Attlee in order to block Morrison. Greenwood was elected to replace Attlee as Deputy Leader.

References

"Leaders of the Labour Party". Election.demon.co.uk.
[http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/lhr/2006/00000071/00000001/art00002 John Hamill and Andrew Prescott, 'The Masons' Candidate: New Welcome Lodge No. 5139 and the Parliamentary Labour Party'] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-10-14 , ''Labour History Review'', Volume 71, Number 1, April 2006, pp. 9–41(33), citing H. Morrison, ''Herbert Morrison: An Autobiography'' (London, Odhams, 1960), p. 164)
Hugh Dalton, Ben Pimlott, ''The Political Diary of Hugh Dalton, 1918–40, 1945–60'' (London School of Economics and Political Science, {{ISBN. 0-224-01912-0), p.224.
Hamill and Prescott, pp. 9–41(33), citing ''H. Dalton, The Fateful Years'', (London: Frederick Muller Ltd., 1957), p. 82

Info: Wikipedia Source

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