Deputy Leader
Encyclopedia
A deputy leader in the Westminster system
Westminster System
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 is the second-in-command of a political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

, behind the party leader
Party leader
In politics, the party leader is the most powerful official within a political party.The party leader is typically responsible for managing the party's relationship with the general public. As such, he or she will take a leading role in developing and communicating party policy, especially election...

. Deputy leaders often become deputy prime minister
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...

 when their parties are elected to government. In opposition, deputy leaders often lead Question Time
Question Time
Question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers , which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be cancelled in exceptional circumstances...

 sessions when the party leader is away. The deputy leader may take on the role of the leader if the current leader is, for some reason, unable to perform their role as leader. Reasons may include: assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...

, foreign conference attendance, or illness. They also usually have other responsibilities of party management.

Some current Deputy Leaders

  • Harriet Harman
    Harriet Harman
    Harriet Ruth Harman QC is a British Labour Party politician, who is the Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, and was MP for the predecessorPeckham constituency from 1982 to 1997...

    , Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK)
    Labour Party (UK)
    The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

  • Lord Monckton, jointly Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party of the United Kingdom.
  • Joan Burton
    Joan Burton
    Joan Burton is an Irish Labour Party politician and the current Minister for Social Protection. She is a Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency....

    , female Deputy Leader of the Irish Labour Party of the Republic of Ireland.
  • Simon Hughes
    Simon Hughes
    Simon Henry Ward Hughes is a British politician and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. He is Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark. Until 2008 he was President of the Liberal Democrats...

    , Deputy Leader of the British Liberal Democrats
    Liberal Democrats
    The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

  • Libby Davies
    Libby Davies
    Libby Davies is a Canadian Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party , representing the riding of Vancouver East in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2007, she was named Deputy Leader of the federal NDP, jointly with Thomas Mulcair.-Background:Davies was born in Aldershot, England and...

    , jointly Deputy Leader of the New Democratic Party
    New Democratic Party
    The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

     of Canada
  • Sanjeev Goel
    Sanjeev Goel
    Sanjeev Goel is a male former deputy leader of the Green Party of Ontario and is a physician in Brampton, Ontario. He is a previous candidate for both the Green Party of Ontario and the Green Party of Canada....

    , male Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Ontario
    Green Party of Ontario
    The Green Party of Ontario is a political party in Ontario, Canada. The party is led by Mike Schreiner. It has never held any seats in the Ontario Legislative Assembly; however, the party did see significant gains in the 2007 provincial election, earning 8% of the popular vote with some candidates...

  • Damian Kettlewell, Deputy Leader of the Green Party of British Columbia
    Green Party of British Columbia
    The Green Party of British Columbia is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is led by former Esquimalt municipal councillor, university professor and businessperson Jane Sterk, she was elected by the party in 2007. Penticton realtor and columnist Julius Bloomfield serves as the deputy...

  • Thomas Mulcair
    Thomas Mulcair
    Thomas J. "Tom" Mulcair is a Canadian lawyer, university professor, and politician. He is the federal Member of Parliament for Outremont, Quebec, Canada, and currently holds a seat in the New Democratic Party of Canada...

    , jointly Deputy Leader of the New Democratic Party
    New Democratic Party
    The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

     of Canada
  • Victoria Serda, female Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Ontario
    Green Party of Ontario
    The Green Party of Ontario is a political party in Ontario, Canada. The party is led by Mike Schreiner. It has never held any seats in the Ontario Legislative Assembly; however, the party did see significant gains in the 2007 provincial election, earning 8% of the popular vote with some candidates...

  • Ralph E. Goodale, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
    Liberal Party of Canada
    The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

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