Ramsay MacDonald

The Right Honourable James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866–9 November 1937), British politician, was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. One of the pioneers of British socialism, he rose from humble origins to become the first Labour Prime Minister in 1924. During his second government, faced with the crisis of the Great Depression, he formed a "National Government" in coalition with the Conservatives and was expelled from the Labour Party.

Early career

MacDonald was born in Lossiemouth, in Moray in northern Scotland, the illegitimate son of John MacDonald, a farm labourer, and Anne Ramsay, a housemaid. At first known as James Ramsay, he later adopted his father's surname and used Ramsay as his preferred given name. Illegitimacy was a serious handicap in 19th century Presbyterian Scotland, and the associated stigma affected MacDonald throughout his life. He received an elementary education at the nearby town of Drainie, and worked there as a pupil teacher until he was 18, when he left for London, England. For the remainder of his life he had little affection for Scotland or Scottish attitudes.

Related Topics:
Lossiemouth - Moray - Scotland - Presbyterian - Drainie - London - England

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Working as a clerk in London, MacDonald furthered his education through night classes and incessant reading, particularly in science, economics and social issues. In 1894 he joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP), one of the earliest socialist parties in Britain, and began writing for socialist papers. He met and was heavily influenced by Keir Hardie, one of the first Labour Members of Parliament. He stood for Parliament for the first time in 1895, and again in 1900. In that year he became Secretary of the Labour Representation Committee, the forerunner of the Labour Party, while retaining his membership of the ILP. The ILP, while not a Marxist party, was more rigorously socialist than the Labour Party, and ILP members operated as a "ginger group" within Labour for many years.

Related Topics:
1894 - Independent Labour Party - Keir Hardie - 1895 - 1900 - Labour Representation Committee - Marxist - Ginger group

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As Party Secretary MacDonald negotiated an agreement with the leading Liberal politician Herbert Gladstone (son of the late Prime Minister William Gladstone), which allowed Labour to contest a number of working-class seats without Liberal opposition, thus giving Labour its first breakthrough into the House of Commons. His closeness to Gladstone was helped by his marriage in 1896 to Margaret Gladstone, a distant cousin of Herbert's. During this period he also travelled widely: to Canada and the United States in 1897, to South Africa in 1902, to Australia and New Zealand in 1906 and to India several times.

Related Topics:
Liberal - Herbert Gladstone - William Gladstone - House of Commons - 1896 - Canada - United States - 1897 - South Africa - 1902 - Australia - New Zealand - 1906 - India

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In 1906 MacDonald was elected MP for Leicester, and became one of the leaders of the Parliamentary Labour Party, which at this time was a minor party supporting the Liberal governments of Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Henry Asquith. MacDonald, despite his links to the Gladstonian Liberals, became the leader of the left wing of the party, arguing that Labour must seek to displace the Liberals as the main progressive party.

Related Topics:
1906 - Leicester - Henry Campbell-Bannerman - Henry Asquith

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