The treasurer of the Labour Party is a position on the National Executive Committee of the

British Labour Party The Labour Party, often referred to as Labour, is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that sits on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum. The party has been describe ...

. Although a post with little power, in the past, it was often hotly contested by people who later became big names in British politics:

Arthur Greenwood Arthur Greenwood (8 February 1880 – 9 June 1954) was a British politician. A prominent member of the Labour Party from the 1920s until the late 1940s, Greenwood rose to prominence within the party as secretary of its research department fr ...

beat

Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, (3 January 1888 – 6 March 1965) was a British politician who held a variety of senior positions in the Cabinet as a member of the Labour Party. During the inter-war period, he was Minist ...

in 1943,

Hugh Gaitskell Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell (9 April 1906 – 18 January 1963) was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition from 1955 until ...

beat

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, noted for spearheading the creation of the British National Health Service during his t ...

in 1954, who in turn beat

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * Ge ...

in 1956, while

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the L ...

beat

Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Foot beg ...

in 1967. Since the 1990s, the post has typically been held by a senior member of one of the larger Trade Unions. Since the

Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets out how political parties, elections and referendums are to be regulated in the United Kingdom. It formed an important par ...

(PPERA) came into force, the Labour Party has had to register a treasurer to the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

, who becomes legally responsible for various returns to the Electoral Commission. It has been the practice of the NEC to register the full-time

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

as treasurer under PPERA, rather than the elected volunteer treasurer. This has created two treasurer roles within the party, so to disambiguate these roles the elected treasurer is often called ''Party Treasurer'', and the PPERA treasurer is often called ''Registered Treasurer''. The party accounts are signed by both treasurers using these titles, though under PPERA only the General Secretary need sign them. In 2008 the post was contested by the incumbent

Jack Dromey John Eugene Joseph Dromey (29 September 1948 – 7 January 2022) was a British politician and trade unionist who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Erdington from 2010 to 2022. A member of the Labour Party, he served as Deputy ...

and by human rights lawyer Mark McDonald, with Dromey being re-elected. In 2010, former Deputy Prime Minister

John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (31 May 1938 – 20 November 2024) was a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the ...

was defeated by Diana Holland.

List of treasurers

*1904:

Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour Party (UK), Labour politician. He was the first Labour Cabinet of the United Kingdom, cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniqu ...

*1912:

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

*1929:

*1936:

George Lathan George Lathan (5 August 1875 – 14 June 1942) was a British trade unionist and politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Park from 1929 to 1931 and from 1935 until his death. Lathan worked on the railways where he became ...

*1943:

*1954:

*1956:

*1960:

Harry Nicholas Sir Herbert Richard Nicholas OBE (13 March 1905 – 15 April 1997) was a trade unionist and political organiser. Early life Born in Bristol, Nicholas worked for the Port of Bristol Authority until 1936, when he took a full-time post in the Tr ...

*1964: Dai Davies *1967:

*1976:

Norman Atkinson Norman Atkinson (25 March 1923 – 8 July 2013) was a British politician who served as Labour Member of Parliament for the London constituency of Tottenham from 1964 until 1987. Early life Manchester-born, Atkinson was educated at technical sc ...

*1981:

Eric Varley Eric Graham Varley, Baron Varley, (11 August 1932 – 29 July 2008) was a British Labour Party politician and cabinet minister on the right-wing of the party. He was the Member of Parliament for Chesterfield from 1964 to 1984. Early life Eri ...

*1983:

Albert Booth Albert Edward Booth (28 May 1928 – 6 February 2010) was a British left-wing Labour Party politician and cabinet minister. Early life Booth was born in Acomb, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, in 1928. He was raised in Hampshire and South S ...

*1984: Sam McCluskie *1992: Tom Burlison *1996: Margaret Prosser *2001: Jimmy Elsby *2004:

*2010: Diana Holland *2022: Mike Payne

References

{{UK Labour Party Organisation of the Labour Party (UK) Labour Party