How Labour’s election system operates
A look at what happened the 2007 deputy race
It keeps on getting raised on the threads that it might be useful to look once again at how Labour’s leadership election system operates.
This has only been used twice – for the election of Tony Blair in 1994 and the race the deputy position in 2007.
There are three strands to the electoral college each making 33.33%. Every eligible voters in each section will get a ballot paper asking them to list in preferential order (1,2,3 etc) the five nominated candidates.
If no candidate has 50% of the vote averaged across the three segments at the first stage then the bottom candidate gets dropped and his/her votes are then redistributed according to the preference order on each ballot form. This is how the deputy count went:-
Round 1: all six in
| Candidate | Unions | Members | MPs/MEPs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cruddas | 9.09% | 5.67% | 4.63% | 19.39 |
| Harman | 4.35% | 8.04% | 6.54% | 18.93 |
| Johnson | 4.55% | 5.53% | 8.08% | 18.16 |
| Benn | 4.93% | 7.21% | 4.27% | 16.4 |
| Hain | 6.64% | 3.87% | 4.81% | 15.32 |
| Blears | 3.77% | 3% | 4.99% | 11.77 |
Round 2: Blears out and the second preferences re-distributed
| Candidate | Unions | Members | MPs/MEPs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson | 5.91% | 6.35% | 11.47% | 23.74 |
| Harman | 5.15% | 8.80% | 7.29% | 21.23 |
| Cruddas | 9.64% | 6.01% | 4.74% | 20.39 |
| Benn | 5.56% | 7.93% | 4.74% | 18.22 |
| Hain | 7.08% | 4.24% | 5.10% | 16.42 |
Round 3: Hain out and his second prefs redistributed. Those Blears voters who had put Hain as number 2 would have their third preferences allocated at this stage
| Candidate | Unions | Members | MPs/MEPs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson | 7.81% | 7.31% | 12.78% | 27.90 |
| Harman | 7.12% | 10.15% | 8.61 | 25.88 |
| Cruddas | 11.01% | 6.58% | 6.30% | 23.89 |
| Benn | 7.39% | 9.29% | 5.65% | 22.33 |
Round 4: Benn out and his votes redistributed – in accordance with the formula above, Thus Blears voters who had put Hain as number 2 and Benn as number 3 would have their fourth preferences going into this count.
| Candidate | Unions | Members | MPs/MEPs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson | 10.25% | 10.7% | 15.39% | 36.35 |
| Harman | 9.46% | 13.82% | 10.29 | 33.58 |
| Cruddas | 13.61% | 8.81% | 7.65% | 30.06 |
Round 5: Cruddas out and his votes redistributed
| Candidate | Unions | Members | MPs/MEPs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harman | 16.18% | 18.83% | 15.42% | 50.43 |
| Johnson | 17.15% | 14.5% | 17.91% | 49.56 |
Conclusion. This could get damned complicated.