The post of Party Secretary was created in 1900 at the birth of the Labour Party. The first holder of that position was
Ramsay MacDonald, later Prime Minister. In these early years, the post was very important, effectively leading the party outside Parliament. MacDonald and his successor,
Arthur Henderson, were both Members of Parliament and, for a period, were both Chairmen of the
Parliamentary Labour Party while Party Secretary. Upon Henderson's retirement in 1934, after the 1931 debacle which had seen MacDonald expelled from the party, it was decided that the position should be separated from the parliamentary party, and power should not be concentrated in the hands of one person. Therefore, Henderson's successor would not be allowed to become a Member of Parliament. This ruled out the strongest contender,
Herbert Morrison, and others with parliamentary ambitions. Finally,
Jimmy Middleton, assistant secretary since 1903, was chosen. He was a quiet-spoken man and the job lost much of its previous importance. However, the
National Executive Committee grew in influence. During
World War II,
Morgan Phillips became General Secretary and went on to oversee two general election victories. A Welshman, he had been a miner but was instrumental in widening Labour's appeal to the middle classes. He also built a professional Party, with key employees working on policy development and electoral organisation. When
Len Williams, the General Secretary of the early
Wilson years, retired in 1968, he was expected to be replaced by someone younger who could transform the party and lead it to a third successive victory. However, the party chose
Harry Nicholas, a long-serving left-wing
T&G union figure who would be unlikely to continue to renew and reinvigorate the party. The party lost the
1970 general election. The 1970s and early 1980s saw developing confrontations between the left and the right in the party.
Jim Mortimer and
Larry Whitty worked hard to keep the party together after the formation of the
Social Democratic Party and the rise of the
Militant tendency. Whitty oversaw the reforms of
Neil Kinnock and stayed on until the election of
Tony Blair as Leader. It would be
Tom Sawyer who would put in place Blair's
New Labour reforms, with the creation of the
National Policy Forum, the change to
Clause IV and the perceived erosion of the power of grassroots members. He opened new offices in
Millbank and created a highly professional, media-savvy, youthful staff and Party that worked for Labour's landslide victory in the
1997 general election. Crucial to this period was the transformation of the party apparatus from an alternative centre of power to the parliamentary leadership (largely a product of the 1970s when the party conference repeatedly disowned government policy), to being more congruent with the leadership's ideas for progress.
Margaret McDonagh became Labour's first Permanent female General Secretary in 1998. She had been a rising star and formidable organiser in the run-up to 1997, seen as the key party official responsible for the record landslide victory, but her fearsome style did not endear her to Party members and the left. Her handling of the candidate selection for the
2000 London mayoral election badly damaged her reputation. However, her formidable organisational skills contributed to a
second victory in 2001. McDonagh left after the 2001 general election victory and was succeeded by
David Triesman. The party moved in 2004 to appoint
Matt Carter as the youngest-ever General Secretary. He resigned after less than two years following the less than convincing
2005 general election victory and was replaced in January 2006 by
Peter Watt. Watt became embroiled in the
funding scandals of 2007 and resigned soon after. In early 2008
David Pitt-Watson, a key
Gordon Brown ally, was selected for the post under the banner of party finance reform, but never took up the post "for legal and financial reasons". The poor state of the party's finances following the decision by the leadership of the party to finance the General Election campaign in 2005 with loans meant that the auditors of the party had to inform him that his wealth, after a career partly in the City of London, would be at risk if the party did become bankrupt.
Ray Collins was appointed in 2008, and was succeeded by
Iain McNicol in 2011. McNicol resigned from the post in early 2018, citing a desire to "pursue new challenges". On 20 March 2018,
Jennie Formby was appointed as the General Secretary effective from April 2018. She resigned on 4 May 2020, following the election of
Keir Starmer as new Labour leader, saying "now we have a new leadership team it is the right time to step down". On 26 May 2020,
David Evans was appointed as the General Secretary. This was following an allegedly close run between Evans, Starmer's preferred choice, and Byron Taylor, favoured by the
Labour left. On 17 September 2024, Hollie Ridley succeeded Evans as General Secretary. ==List of General Secretaries (1900–present)==