 Following Labour's defeat in the 1955 election, Attlee announced his retirement as Party Leader (and subsequently, Leader of the Opposition).In the leadership election, the Labour left rallied around Bevan, while the Labour right was split between Gaitskell and Herbert Morrison.Gaitskell defeated both, gaining almost sixty percent of the vote, and on 14 December 1955 became both Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition.