Labour Party through the years

The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been regarded as the principal party of the Left in England, Scotland and Wales since 1920. However, it has only recently begun to organize once more in Northern Ireland. Labour first surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s.

Since then, the party has experienced several spells in government, at first in minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and again from 1929 until 1931. It then became a junior partner in the wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, ultimately forming majority governments under Clement Attlee from 1945 until 1951 and again under Harold Wilson from1964 to 1970. Labour was also in government from 1974 to 1979, first under Wilson and then James Callaghan.

The Labour Party won a majority in the 1997 general election under the leadership of Tony Blair, its first general election victory since October 1974 and the first general election since1970 in which it had exceeded 40% of the popular vote. It has 13 members in the European Parliament. The Labour Party is a member of the Party of European Socialists and the Socialist International. The party's current leader is Prime Minister Gordon Brown.