 Benn stood against Denis Healey, the party's incumbent deputy leader, triggering the 1981 deputy leadership election, disregarding an appeal from Michael Foot to either stand for the leadership or abstain from inflaming the party's divisions.Benn defended his decision insisting that it was "not about personalities, but about policies".The result was announced on 27 September 1981; Healey retained his position by a margin of barely one per cent.