History of the Labour Party

Tony Blair and John Prescott both announced that the 2006 Annual Conference would be their last as Leader and Deputy Leader of the Party and in May and June 2007 the party held its first leadership election for thirteen years.

For the first time whilst Labour has been in government, thousands of party members and members of affiliated organisations were involved in voting and attending hustings meetings around the country, culminating in a Leadership Conference held in Manchester on 24 June 2007.

At the conference Gordon Brown was declared Leader of the Labour Party, with Tony Blair describing him as “strong in his convictions and true to his principles”. Following a hard-fought contest against five other candidates, Harriet Harman was elected Deputy Leader.

Three days later, on 27 June 2007, Tony Blair stepped down after ten years as Labour’s longest-serving Prime Minister and the ninth-longest serving in our nation’s history. At the final Cabinet meeting, Gordon Brown led tributes to Tony Blair by remarking that people would look back in 100 years time and see his achievements which had changed this country for good and that “whatever we achieve in the future, will be because we are standing on your shoulders.”

Following his appointment as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown stood on the steps of Downing Street and made a pledge to the British people: “On this day I remember words that have stayed with me since my childhood and which matter a great deal to me today, my school motto: "I will try my utmost". This is my promise to all of the people of Britain and now let the work of change begin.”

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