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 |
There were 52 nominations last night for the 15 Shadow Cabinet posts. This is a record figure and compares with 40 last year.