Who's Left? Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Prior to the 1922 general election, the Chairman of the Parliamentary party was the de facto leader. This post was first filled following the election of 1906 when Labour increased its number of MPs from two to 29. Keir Hardie was the first chairman, followed by Arthur Henderson, George Barnes, Ramsay MacDonald, William Adamson and J. R. Clynes.

The 1922 election saw Labour become the official opposition for the first time (the party with the second largest number of seats in the House of Commons). Following this success, the post of Leader of the Labour Party was created and the role of chairman was combined with that of leader.

The leaders in those first 100 years were;

Ramsay MacDonald (1922-1931) - Became Labour's first Prime Minister (PM) in 1924, leading a minority government after the Liberal party chose to support them rather than the Conservatives despite the latter winning more seats. After that government fell after just 10 months, MacDonald became PM again following the election of 1929, which was the first UK general election held under the principle of universal suffrage. Expelled from the party in 1931 after forming a National Government with the Liberals and Conservatives.

Arthur Henderson (1931-1932) - Lost his parliamentary seat in the 1931 election just eight weeks after assuming the leadership and resigned the position the following year.

George Lansbury (1932-1935) - As fascism was on the rise across Europe, Lansbury's pacificism was in clear opposition to the majority in his party and he resigned, becoming the only leader in the first 100 years to never contest a general election.

Clement Attlee (1935-1955) - Invited to be part of the national government during World War II despite PM Winston Churchill describing him as a man who has "much to be modest about". Succeeded Churchill as PM after the end of World War II and in his six years in Downing Street his party nationalised the public utilities, brought in free secondary school education for all and founded the NHS among other achievements.

Hugh Gaitskell (1955-1963) - Took over from Attlee following the 1955 election defeat. After eight years in opposition, in which he opposed Britain's disastrous military intervention in Suez, he was on course to become PM when he died suddenly at the age of 56.

Harold Wilson (1963-1976) - PM for a total of eight years in two periods after winning four general elections. Liberalised many social policies including the decriminalisation of homosexuality and abortion and abolished capital punishment in his first premiership.

James Callaghan (1976-1980) - First UK politician to hold all four of the great offices of state; Chancellor of the Exchequer; Foreign Secretary; Home Secretary; and Prime Minister.

Michael Foot (1980-1983) - Unsuccessfully tried to unseat Margaret Thatcher in the 1983 election after producing a manifesto described as "the longest suicide note in history" by Labour MP Gerald Kaufman. Highlights of the manifesto were a commitment to unilateral nuclear disarmament. leaving the EEC and abolishing the House of Lords.

Neil Kinnock (1983-1992) - Successfully battled with the militant left to modernise his party. Unsuccessfully battled with Margaret Thatcher and John Major to become PM.

John Smith (1992-1994) - Died in office, aged just 55, when in pole position to replace Major as PM. His lasting legacy was to introduce the one member, one vote process for electing party leaders.

Tony Blair (1994-2007) - The first Labour leader to serve two full terms as PM, winning three elections in total. Arguably his greatest achievement in his ten years in Downing Street was the Good Friday agreement that brought an end to the armed conflict in Northern Ireland.

Gordon Brown (2007-2010) - Was a Labour PM who never won an election, Brown is also its longest serving Chancellor of the Exchequer and was a key figure in the global recovery from the financial crisis of 2007-08.

Ed Miliband (2010-2015) - Unexpectedly defeated his brother David to become the youngest ever leader of the party aged 40. Resigned the leadership after defeat in the 2015 general election.

Jeremy Corbyn (2015-2020) - After 32 years on the backbenches, surprisingly won the leadership after inspiring a mass movement among the young voters of the UK. Came a close second to Theresa May in the 2017 general election but then suffered a crushingly heavy defeat in the next election two years later before resigning the leadership.

Keir Starmer (elected 2020) - Having served as the Director of Public Prosecutions prior to becoming an MP, Starmer made the quickest ascent to the leadership, becoming leader less than five years after being elected to the House of Commons for the first time.

The wrong answers are all Labour MPs, many of whom stood unsuccessfully for the leadership. Notably, the Labour Party failed to elect a woman to be leader in its first 100 years, with Harriet Harman and Margaret Beckett both serving brief periods as unelected interim leaders.