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{{Short description|none}}
{{Infobox Election▼
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
|election_name = Labour Party leadership election, 1960▼
|flag_image = <!-- File:Red flag.svg -->
|type = presidential
|ongoing = no
|previous_election = 1955 Labour Party
|previous_year = 1955
|next_election = 1961 Labour Party
|next_year = 1961
|election_date = {{Start date|1960|11|3|df=yes}}
<!--Hugh Gaitskell-->
|image1 =
|image1_size = 160x160px
|candidate1 = '''[[Hugh Gaitskell]]'''
|popular_vote1 = '''166'''▼
▲|popular_vote1 =
▲|2data1 = '''67.2%'''
<!--Harold Wilson-->
|image2 =
|image2_size = 160x160px
|candidate2 = [[Harold Wilson]]
|popular_vote2 = 81▼
▲|popular_vote2 =
▲|2data2 = 32.8%
|title = Leader
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|after_election = [[Hugh Gaitskell]]
}}
{{Harold Wilson sidebar}}
The '''1960 Labour Party leadership election''' was held when, for the first time since
==Background==
Following the heavy defeat of the Labour Party in the [[1959 United Kingdom general election
Elections for the Leader and Deputy Leader were formally held by the [[Parliamentary Labour Party]] at the beginning of each Parliamentary session, which happened later in October. There was already a vacancy for the Deputy Leader of the Party due to the death of [[Aneurin Bevan]] in July, and many senior party figures were weighing up whether to stand for that post; contested elections for vacant posts were usual, but incumbents were not normally challenged. The result of the faction-fighting was that many on the left thought Gaitskell was both out of touch with the party and that a challenge might force him to the left, so they were keen to have a credible challenger.<ref>Williams, p. 624.</ref> One left candidate who was keen to fight for the deputy leadership was [[Harold Wilson]], who found himself subjected to pressure to challenge Gaitskell instead. [[Peter Shore]], then head of the Research Department at party headquarters, thought Gaitskell had lost the confidence of party staff and Wilson could restore it. [[Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge|Jennie Lee]], Bevan's widow and a fellow Labour MP, led a delegation to Wilson.<ref>[[Andrew Roth]], "Sir Harold Wilson: Yorkshire Walter Mitty", Macdonald & Janes, 1977, p. 249.</ref>
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* [[Hugh Gaitskell]] (born 1906), had been MP for [[Leeds South (UK Parliament constituency)|Leeds South]] since 1945 and served as [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] in 1950-1951. Gaitskell was elected party leader in 1955. He was aligned with the right wing of the party.
* [[Harold Wilson]] (born 1916), the MP for [[Ormskirk (UK Parliament constituency)|Ormskirk]] from
==Ballot==
The result of the only ballot of Labour MPs on 3 November was as follows:
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:
|-
! colspan="
|-
!
! style="width: 50px"|Votes
! style="width: 40px"|%
|-
| style="width: 170px" | '''[[Hugh Gaitskell]]'''
| align="right" | '''166'''
| align="right" | '''67.2'''
|-
| style="width: 170px" | [[Harold Wilson]]
| align="right" | 81
| align="right" | 32.8
|-
!
| align="right" | 85
| align="right" | 34.4
|-
!
| align="right" | 229
| align="right" | ''N/A''
|-
| colspan="
|}
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{{UK Labour Party}}
{{Hugh Gaitskell|state=collapsed}}
{{Harold Wilson}}
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) leadership elections|1960]]
[[Category:1960 elections in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Hugh Gaitskell]]
[[Category:1960 political party leadership elections|Labour Party leadership election]]
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