Healey had been elected unopposed as deputy leader in the previous year.

When this plurality in favour of the unions was first introduced, it received considerable criticism from the more social democratic wing of the party.

It transpired it was the union ("Affiliated") block provided a majority for Dennis Healy, and had its share of the vote been equal to that of the PLP and the party membership (via the CLPs) then Healey's narrow majority would have been wiped out and the more left-wing Benn would have won the contest.

[citation needed] Healey's victory has been seen as a significant moment in the history of the Labour Party.

[3] Steve Richards notes that in the event of a Benn victory the SDP hoped to attract a number of significant defectors from the Labour Party and argues that while not obvious in 1981 the victory of Healey "marked the beginning of the end for the SDP".