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Line 1: {{Infobox ~~Election~~election \|election_name = Labour Party leadership election, 1960 \|flag_image = File:Red flag.svg Line 29: }} The '''1960 Labour Party leadership election''' was held when, for the first time since 1935, the incumbent leader [[Hugh Gaitskell]] was challenged for re-election. Normally the annual re-election of the leader had been a formality. Gaitskell had lost the [[1959 United Kingdom general election~~, 1959~~\|1959 general election]] and had seen the Labour Party conference adopt a policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament which he considered disastrous and refused to support. A vacancy in the deputy leadership was first made by the death of incumbent [[Aneurin Bevan]]. ==Background== Following the heavy defeat of the Labour Party in the [[1959 United Kingdom general election~~, 1959~~\|1959 general election]], its leader [[Hugh Gaitskell]] had determined that the party must change fundamentally to make itself electable. He decided to attempt to rewrite [[Clause IV]] of the party constitution, which appeared to commit it to [[nationalisation]] of every industry.<ref>Philip Williams, "Hugh Gaitskell: A Political Biography", Jonathan Cape, 1979, pp. 544-9.</ref> However his move provoked firm opposition from the major unions and the left-wing of the party, and facing certain defeat, he withdrew it in March 1960.<ref>Williams, p. 570.</ref> In the meantime the Government's decision to abandon the British [[Blue Streak (missile)\|Blue Streak missile]] and buy instead the US [[GAM-87 Skybolt\|Skybolt]] system had made nuclear weapons a prominent political issue. Gaitskell supported the decision to buy an American system and to remain in NATO, a policy stance which outraged the left.<ref>Williams, p. 579-80 and 587-88.</ref> At the party conference in Scarborough in October 1960, motions calling for unilateral [[nuclear disarmament]] were carried despite Gaitskell's speech declaring that he and his allies would "fight and fight and fight again to save the Party we love".<ref>Williams, p. 610-13.</ref> 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>

1960 Labour Party leadership election: Difference between revisions