In May 1994 the leader of the Labour Party, John Smith, died suddenly. He had only been Party Leader since July 1992 and his death came as a major shock to the whole nation.

In the leadership election that followed, Tony Blair became Party Leader, with 57% of the overall vote. This was a defining moment in the history of the Labour Party. Alongside Gordon Brown (later Chancellor of the Exchequer), Peter Mandelson (later a Cabinet Member) and Alistair Campbell (later Communications Director) the ‘New Labour’ movement began to take shape. One of the major early policy decisions taken was the abolition of Clause IV. So, what was Clause IV and why did Tony Blair want to see it abolished?

Conservative Leadership elections take place relatively regularly. However, because of Britain’s parliamentary democracy it is often the case that a Conservative Leadership election will also essentially mean an election for the position of Prime Minister. This was the case in 2016 when Theresa May succeeded David Cameron and happened again in 2022 when Boris Johnson resigned following a series of scandals. So, how does a Conservative Leadership election work and what happened in the 2022 iteration?