| 1900.Feb.28 | | Foundation of the British Labour Party as the Labour Representation Committee
Winning two seats in parliament in its first general election |
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| 1906 | | Labour candidates fight the Tories without Liberal opposition in a deal with the Liberal Party
Labour gets a substantial number of MPs for the first time, and changes name to the Labour Party |
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| 1910.Jan | | General Election: Labour Party secures 505,657 (7.0%) votes, winning 40 seats in parliament |
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| 1910.Dec | | General Election: Labour Party secures 371,802 (3.0%) votes, winning 42 seats in parliament |
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| 1914 | | Labour Party initialy opposes the Great War |
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| 1915 | | Death of Keir Hardie |
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| 1916 | | Labour Party joins the coalition government with the first Labour Cabint Ministers appointed |
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| 1917 | | Labour Party leaves the coalition - some Cabinet Ministers remain |
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| 1918 | | New Labour Party constitution |
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| 1918 | | Labour Party performs disappointingly in the first near-universal franchise general election winning only 63 seats |
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| 1922 | | Break-up of the Lloyd George coalition: Labour Party becomes the official opposition after the Liberals split between Lloyd George and Asquith |
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| 1923.Dec | | Stanley Baldwin calls a snap general election
Liberals and Labour make big gains |
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| 1924 | | Labour and Liberals defeat the Conservatives on a confidence motion. Labour ministers are appointed with Liberal support |
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| 1924 | | Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister |
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| 1924.Sep | | After a case of seditious libel against a Communist journalist is dropped, Liberal support is withdrawn
The Liberals virtually collapse in the ensuing general election |
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| 1926 | | General Strike |
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| 1929 | | Labour Party becomes the largest single party in the Commons for the first time
Ramsay MacDonald forms second government |
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| 1931 | | Sterling crisis in the summer splits the government
MacDonald forms a coalition with the Conservatives and Liberals - in the election Labour is nearly wiped out |
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| 1933 | | Fulham East by-election - Labour candidate on a pacifist ticket wins a stunning victory
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| 1935 | | Labour begins to call for rearmament. Pacifist leader George Lansbury resigns and Clement Attlee elected leader
Labour regains some of its position in the general election |
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| 1940 | | Labour joins a coalition
Attlee eventually becomes Deputy Prime Minister |
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| 1945 | | Labour Party forms a majority government for the first time |
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| 1946 | | Labour government introduces major social reforms, nationalisation and the creation of the NHS (-1948) |
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| 1950.Feb.24 | | Labour wins general election by only 13 seats (losing most of its majority), returning Clement Attlee as PM
Labour 315 seats, Conservative 298, Liberals 9 |
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| 1951 | | Aneurin Bevan and Harold Wilson resign from the Cabinet in protest at imposition of NHS charges |
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| 1951 | | General election: Labour loses office despite polling more votes than the Conservatives |
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| 1952 | | Left-right struggle in the Labour Party (-1955) between Bevan and the leadership |
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| 1955 | | Bevan expelled from the Labour Party
He is readmitted soon after |
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| 1955 | | Attlee resigns as leader of the Labour Party after the Conservative majority increases. Gaitskell elected as the new leader |
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| 1956 | | Labour oppeses the invasion of Suez |
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| 1959.Oct.09 | | General Election: third consecutive Conservative election victory on the back of prosperity, Harold Macmillan becomes PM
Conservatives 365 seats, Labour 258, Liberals 6 |
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| 1960 | | Death of Bevan |
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| 1962 | | Labour begins a run of by-election victories as MacMillan\'s government becomes unpopular |
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| 1963 | | Sudden death of Hugh Gaitskill - harold Wilson succeeds him as leader of the Labour Party |
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| 1964.Oct.15 | | General Election: Labour by a very narrow majority after 13 years of Conservative rule. Harold Wilson becomes Prime Minister
Labour 317 (+59); Conservative 304 (-61); Liberal 9 (+3); others 0 (-1) |
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| 1966.Mar.31 | | General Election: Labour win with a near-100 seat majority through the popularity of Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Labour 364; Conservative 253; Liberal 12; Republican Labour Party 1 |
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| 1970.Jun.18 | | Recovery of the Labour goverment\\\'s popularity after 3 years of discontent leads PM Wilson to call an election which is unexpectedly won by the Conservatives led by Edward Heath
Conservative 330 (30-seat majority); Labour 288; Liberal 6; Republican Labour Party 1; Scottish National Party 1
Poor economic figures released just before the election tipped the balance decisively towards the Conservatives |
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| 1971 | | Harold Wilson reverses the Labour stance and opposes entry into the European Community
69 Labour MPs defy a 3 line whip and vote in favour of entry |
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| 1972 | | Resignation of Roy Jenkins, deputy leader of the Labour Party over its stance on the European Community |
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| 1973.Dec.09 | | Sunningdale Agreement for power-sharing in Northern Ireland signed by British Prime Minister Edward Heath, Irish premier Liam Cosgrave, and representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland |
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| 1974.Feb.28 | | General Election: Heath\'s Conservative government runs into conflict with the National Union of Mineworkers and the PM calls an election resulting in a hung parliament. Labour, led by Wilson, returns after the Liberals refuse to support Heath
Labour 301; Conservative 297; Liberal 14; Scottish National Party 7; Plaid Cymru 2; National Front 1 |
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| 1974.Oct.11 | | General Election: Harold Wilson\'s minority Labour government returned with majority of only three in the year\'s second election
Labour 319 (majority of 3); Conservative 277; Liberal 13; Scottish national party 11; Plaid Cymru 3 |
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| 1975 | | Labour PM Harold Wilson allows 7 anti-EC Cabinet Ministers to speak against government policy in the referendum campaign |
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| 1976 | | Labour PM Harold Wilson unexpectedly resigns to be succeeded by Foreign Secretary James Callaghan |
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| 1978 | | The Labour government\'s 5% pay policy is opposed by the trade unions in what becomes the Winter of Discontent |
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| 1979.May.03 | | General Election: Labour loses its commons majority and a vote of confidence. The Conservatives win the election, led by Margaret Thatcher
Conservative 339; Labour 269; Liberal 11; Plaid Cymru 2; Scottish National Party 2 |
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| 1980.Aug.01 | | David Owen, Shirley Williams and William Rodgers publish open letter in the Guardian advocating a more moderate socialist policy |
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| 1980.Sep | | Very left-wing dominated Labour Party Conference with voting supporting withdrawal from the European Community; mandatory re-selection of Parliamentary candidates; widening of the franchise for the election of the Party leadership; unilateral disarmament |
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| 1980.Oct.15 | | Resignation of Labour Party leader James Callaghan, succeeded by Micheal Foot |
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| 1980.Nov | | Micheal Foot becomes leader of the Labour Party |
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| 1981 | | Tony Benn contests the deputy leadership of the Labour Party, losing narrowly |
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| 1981.Jan.21 | | Special Labour Party Conference (Wembley)approves electoral college system to elect party leader
The proposal opposed by David Owen, Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers |
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| 1981.Jan.25 | | Four Labour ex-cabinet ministers defect and found the Social Democratic Party
David Owen, Shirley Williams, William Rodgers and Roy Jenkins meet at David Owen\'s house in Limehouse to finalise the drafting of the Limehouse Declaration establishing the Council for Social Democracy |
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| 1981.Mar.26 | | Official launch of the Social Democratic Party |
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| 1983 | | General Election: The divided Labour Party loses a lot of ground as the Conservatives win a second term under Margaret Thatcher
Conservative 397; Labour 209; Liberal 17; Social Democratic Party 6; Plaid Cymru 2; Scottish National Party 2 |
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| 1983.Oct.02 | | Neil Kinnock elected leader of the Labour Party with Roy Hattersley as deputy after thge resignation of Micheal Foot |
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| 1984 | | Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock refuses to back the National union of Mineworkers in its strike |
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| 1985 | | Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock begins to take on the Militant tendency |
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| 1985.Nov.27 | | Suspension of Liverpool District Labour Party by the national leadership as Niel Kinnock moves against the Militant Tendency |
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| 1986 | | Labour Party launches its red rose image |
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| 1987 | | General Election: Despite the modernisation of its image, the Labour Party fails to make much headway in the election and the Conservatives under Margaret thatcher win a third term
Conservative 376; Labour 229; Liberal 22; Social Democratic Party 5 |
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| 1988 | | Tony Benn challenges Neil Kinnock for leadership of the Labour Party. Kinnock wins overwhelmingly and starts the policy review |
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| 1989 | | The Labour Party begins a run of by-election wins |
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| 1992.Apr.09 | | General Election: Conservatives under John Major win an unexpected victory
Conservative 336 (majority 21); labour 271; Liberal Democrat 20; Ulster Unionist 9; Plaid Cymru 4; SDLP 4; DUP 3; Scottish Nationalist Party 3; UPU 1 |
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| 1992.Apr.09+ | | Resignation of Neil Kinnock, succeeded by John Smith as leader of the Labour Party |
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| 1993 | | John Smith, Labour Party leader wins over his plans for One Member One Vote elections within the party |
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| 1993.Sep.17 | | Derek Beackon beat the Labour Party candidate by seven votes in a by-election to take the first council seat for the British National Party (BNP) in Millwall, East London |
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| 1994.May | | Death of John Smith, leader of the Labour Party |
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| 1994.Jun | | Elections to the European Parliament
Tony Blair elected leader of the Labour Party after good results in the election and announces a plan to change Clause IV of the Party constitution |
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| 1995 | | Labour Party leader Tony Blair wins the vote to change Clause IV of the Party constitution |
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| 1997.May.01 | | General Election: Labour Party wins by a landslide after 18 years in opposition, Tony Blair becomming Prime Minister
Labour 418; Conservative 165; Liberal Democrat 46; Ulster Unionist 10; Scottish National Party 6; Plaid Cymru 4; SDLP 3; DUP 2; Sinn Fein 2; Independent 1; UKU 1
Tony Blair became Prime Minister at the age of 43 - the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812
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| 2001.Jun.07 | | General Election: Labour win a second landslide victory under Tony Blair
Labour 413 (majority of 167); Conservative 166; Liberal Democrat 52; SNP 5; PCymru 4; others 19 |
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| 2003 | | Labour government proposed to alter the automatic right to trial by jury for certain offences |
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