The British Labour Party leadership election of 1960 was held when, for the first time since 1935, the incumbent leader was challenged for re-election. Normally the annual re-election of the leader had been a formality.

The challenge followed the defeat of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom general election, 1959

United Kingdom general election, 1959

This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...

 and worsening factional in-fighting over issues like nuclear disarmament. The leader favoured the retention of nuclear weapons by the UK, whereas the left wing of the party supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...

.

Candidates

Two candidates were nominated.

1. The incumbent right wing leader of the party was Hugh Gaitskell
   Hugh Gaitskell
   Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell CBE was a British Labour politician, who held Cabinet office in Clement Attlee's governments, and was the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955, until his death in 1963.-Early life:He was born in Kensington, London, the third and youngest...
   
    (born 1906), who had been Chancellor of the Exchequer
   Chancellor of the Exchequer
   The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
   
    1950-1951. Gaitskell had been MP for Leeds South
   Leeds South (UK Parliament constituency)
   Leeds South was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election...
   
    since 1945 and party leader since 1955.
2. The left wing candidate was Harold Wilson
   Harold Wilson
   James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
   
    (born 1916), the MP for the Lancashire
   Lancashire
   Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
   
    constituency of Ormskirk
   Ormskirk (UK Parliament constituency)
   Ormskirk was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 as a division of the parliamentary county of...
   
    from 1945-1950 and for Huyton
   Huyton (UK Parliament constituency)
   Huyton was a county constituency in the United Kingdom. Created in 1950, it was centred on Huyton in North West England. Its one and only Member of Parliament throughout its existence was Labour MP Harold Wilson, who served as prime minister from 1964 to 1970 and again from 1974 to 1976.The...
   
    from 1950. He had resigned from the cabinet of Clement Attlee
   Clement Attlee
   Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
   
    in 1951 on the issue of prescription charges in the National Health Service
   National Health Service
   The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
   
    (imposed by his rival in the leadership election, when he had been Chancellor of the Exchequer
   Chancellor of the Exchequer
   The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
   
   ). During the 1950s Wilson had been associated with the Bevanite
   Bevanism
   Bevanism was the ideological argument for the Bevanites, a movement on the Left wing of the Labour Party in the late 1950s and led by Nye Bevan. They were opposed by the Gaitskellites, who are variously described as Centre-left, Social Democrats, or 'moderates' within the Party.Bevanism was...
   
    supporters of the father of the National Health Service, former Minister of Health
   Secretary of State for Health
   Secretary of State for Health is a UK cabinet position responsible for the Department of Health.The first Boards of Health were created by Orders in Council dated 21 June, 14 November, and 21 November 1831. In 1848 a General Board of Health was created with the First Commissioner of Woods and...
   
   , Aneurin Bevan
   Aneurin Bevan
   Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
   
   . Bevan had broken with his left wing supporters, whilst serving as foreign affairs spokesman for the party, to support the leadership line on nuclear weapons. He had recently died on 6 July 1960. Wilson was the most credible alternative leader for the left, so he was persuaded to seek the party leadership.

Ballot

The result of the only ballot of Labour MPs on 3 November was as follows:

Only Ballot: 3 November 1960
Candidate		Votes	%
	Hugh Gaitskell	166	67.21
	Harold Wilson	81	32.79
Majority		85	34.42
Turnout		229