1982 Labour Party Shadow Cabinet election

Elections to the Labour Party's Shadow Cabinet (more formally, its "Parliamentary Committee") took place on 18 November 1982. In addition to the 15 members elected, the Leader (Michael Foot), Deputy Leader (Denis Healey), Labour Chief Whip (Michael Cocks), Labour Leader in the House of Lords (Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos), and Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (Jack Dormand) were automatically members.

All 15 members elected the previous year were retained. The value of being the top loser dropped as by-elections would be held for future vacancies under a change in the Parliamentary Labour Party's rules. The results for 20 of the 40 candidates are listed below[N 1]:[2]

Rank
 Prior
rank
 Candidate
 Constituency
 Votes
1 2 Gerald Kaufman Manchester Ardwick 142
2 7 Neil Kinnock Bedwellty 131
3 1 Peter Shore Stepney and Poplar 129
4 3 Roy Hattersley Birmingham Sparkbrook 127
5 5 Eric Varley Chesterfield 122
6 8 Albert Booth Barrow and Furness 118
7 4 John Silkin Lewisham Deptford 103
8 9 John Smith North Lanarkshire 102
9 14 Peter Archer Warley West 101
10 11 Stan Orme Salford West 100
11 6 Merlyn Rees Leeds South 93
12 10 Brynmor John Pontypridd 90
13= 15 Gwyneth Dunwoody Crewe 85
13= 12 Bruce Millan Glasgow Craigton 85
15 13 Eric Heffer Liverpool Walton 82
16 ? Tony Benn Bristol South East 75
17† 17 Robin Cook Edinburgh Central 73
17† ? Joan Lestor Eton and Slough 73
19 ? John Golding Newcastle-under-Lyme 72
20 16 Norman Buchan West Renfrewshire 70

Footnotes

Notes
  1. ^ The Glasgow Herald confirms Kaufman and Kinnock placed first and second. Since none of the three winners for whom vote are not known were among the few who received more votes, Brynmor John could not have done better than 105, his 1981 result. As such the rankings from 7th to 15 are uncertain.[1]
References
  1. ^ "Election for Whip goes to third ballot". The Glasgow Herald. 26 October 1982. p. 6. There were 52 nominations last night for the 15 Shadow Cabinet posts. This is a record figure and compares with 40 last year.
  2. ^ Geoffrey Parkhouse (19 November 1982). "Foot's "Shadow" team will come from the same faces". The Glasgow Herald. p. 6.