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The post of the party leader is one of the most prominent positions in modern parliamentary democracies. Some party leaders become prime ministers, others serve as the heads of the opposition, while still others are appointed as cabinet ministers. This article offers a classification of party leader selection methods. The opening section discusses the significance of leadership selection. Each of the next four sections presents a different dimension of the classification of party leadership selection: selectorate, candidacy, voting method and de‐selection mechanism. The framework established in this article may be a useful tool for future research in the field of leadership selection.