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.

MacDonald's Governments

First Labour government: January - November 1924

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• Ramsay MacDonald - Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons
• Lord Haldane - Lord Chancellor and joint Leader of the House of Lords
• Lord Parmoor - Lord President of the Council and joint Leader of the House of Lords
• John Robert Clynes - Lord Privy Seal and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
• Philip Snowden - Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Arthur Henderson - Home Secretary
• James Henry Thomas - Secretary of State for the Colonies
• Stephen Walsh - Secretary of State for War
• Sir Sydney Olivier - Secretary of State for India
• William Adamson - Secretary for Scotland
• Lord Thomson - Secretary for Air
• Lord Chelmsford - First Lord of the Admiralty
• Josiah Wedgwood - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• Sidney Webb - President of the Board of Trade
• Noel Buxton - Minister of Agriculture
• Charles Philips Trevelyan - President of the Board of Education
• Vernon Hartshorn - Postmaster-General
• Frederick William Jowet - First Commissioner of Works
• Thomas Shaw - Minister of Labour
• John Wheatley - Minister of Health

Second Labour government: June 1929 - August 1931

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• Ramsay MacDonald - Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
• Lord Sankey - Lord Chancellor
• Lord Parmoor - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords
• J.H. Thomas - Lord Privy Seal
• Philip Snowden - Chancellor of the Exchequer
• J.R. Clynes - Home Secretary
• Arthur Henderson - Foreign Secretary
• Lord Passfield - Secretary of State for the Colonies and Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs
• Thomas Shaw- Secretary of State for War
• William Wedgwood Benn - Secretary of State for India
• Lord Thomson - Secretary of State for Air
• William Adamson - Secretary of State for Scotland
• A. V. Alexander - First Lord of the Admiralty
• William Graham - President of the Board of Trade
• Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan - President of the Board of Education
• Noel Buxton - Minister of Agriculture
• Margaret Bondfield - Minister of Labour
• Arthur Greenwood - Minister of Health
• George Lansbury - First Commissioner of Works

Changes

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• 1930 - J.H. Thomas succeeds Lord Passfield as Dominions Secretary. Passfield remains Colonial Secretary. Vernon Hartshorn succeeds Thomas as Lord Privy Seal. Lord Amulree succeeds Lord Thomson as Secretary of State for Air. Christopher Addison succeeds N. Buxton as Minister of Agriculture.
• 1931 - H.B. Lees-Smith succeeds Sir C.P. Trevelyan at the Board of Education. Herbert Morrison enters the cabinet as Minister of Transport.

First national government: August - November 1931

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• Ramsay MacDonald - Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
• Lord Sankey - Lord Chancellor
• Stanley Baldwin - Lord President
• Philip Snowden - Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Sir Herbert Samuel - Home Secretary
• Lord Reading - Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Lords
• Sir Samuel Hoare - Secretary for India
• J.H. Thomas - Dominions Secretary and Colonial Secretary
• Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister - President of the Board of Trade
• Neville Chamberlain - Minister of Health

Second national government: November 1931 - May 1935

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• Ramsay MacDonald - Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
• Lord Sankey - Lord Chancellor
• Stanley Baldwin - Lord President
• Lord Snowden - Lord Privy Seal
• Neville Chamberlain - Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Sir Herbert Samuel - Home Secretary
• Sir John Simon - Foreign Secretary
• Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister - Colonial Secretary
• J.H. Thomas - Dominions Secretary
• Lord Hailsham - Secretary of State for War and Leader of the House of Lords
• Sir Samuel Hoare - Secretary of State for India
• Lord Londonderry - Secretary for Air
• Sir Archibald Sinclair - Secretary of State for Scotland
• Sir B. Eyres-Monsell - First Lord of the Admiralty
• Walter Runciman - President of the Board of Trade
• Sir John Gilmour - Minister of Agriculture
• Sir D. Maclean - President of the Board of Education
• Sir Henry Betterton - Minister of Labour
• Sir E. Hilton-Young - Minister of Health
• William Ormsby-Gore - First Commissioner of Works

Changes

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• 1932 - Stanley Baldwin succeeds Lord Snowden as Lord Privy Seal. Sir John Gilmour succeeds Sir Herbert Samuel as Home Secretary. Sir Godfrey Collins succeeds Sir Archibald Sinclair as Scottish Secretary. Walter Elliot succeeds Sir John Gilmour as Minister of Agriculture. Lord Irwin succeeds Sir Donald Maclean as President of the Board of Education.
• 1933 - Stanley Baldwin ceases to be Lord Privy Seal, and his successor in that office is not in the cabinet. He continues as Lord President. Kingsley Wood enters the cabinet as Postmaster-General.
• 1934 - Oliver Stanley succeeds Sir H. Betterton as Minister of Labour.