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.

Second government

Baldwin formed a strong majority Conservative government, but it was racked by crisis throughout its term, particularly the General Strike of 1926 and the sharply deteriorating economic situation, marked by a rapid rise in unemployment. At the May 1929 election, Labour won 287 seats to the Conservatives' 260, with 59 Liberals under Lloyd George holding the balance of power. (At this election MacDonald moved from Aberavon to the seat of Seaham in County Durham.) Baldwin resigned and MacDonald again formed a minority government, at first with Lloyd George's cordial support. This time MacDonald knew he had to concentrate on domestic matters. Henderson became Foreign Secretary, with Snowden again at the Exchequer. J.H. Thomas became Lord Privy Seal with a mandate to tackle unemployment, assisted by the young radical Oswald Mosley.

Related Topics:
General Strike - 1926 - Unemployment - 1929 - Seaham - County Durham - J.H. Thomas - Oswald Mosley

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MacDonald's second government was in a stronger parliamentary position than his first, and during 1930 he was able to pass a revised Old Age Pensions Act, a more generous Unemployment Insurance Act and an act to improve wages and conditions in the coal industry, which had been the issues behind the General Strike. He also convened a conference in London with the leaders of the Indian National Congress, at which he offered responsible government, but not independence, to India. In April 1930 he negotiated a treaty limiting naval armaments with the United States and Japan.

Related Topics:
1930 - Indian National Congress - Responsible government

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Like all governments of the time, MacDonald's government had no effective response to the economic crisis which followed the Wall Street Crash of October 1929. Snowden was a rigid exponent of orthodox finance and would not permit any deficit spending to stimulate the economy, despite the pleadings of Mosley, Lloyd George and the economist John Maynard Keynes. Even if the government had proposed such measures, the Conservatives and the more conservative Liberals (let alone the House of Lords) would not have supported them.

Related Topics:
Wall Street Crash - 1929 - John Maynard Keynes - House of Lords

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During 1931 the economic situation deteriorated, and pressure from orthodox economists and the press for sharp cuts in government spending, including pensions and unemployment benefits, increased. MacDonald, Snowden and Thomas supported such measures, as necessary to maintain a balanced budget and to prevent a run on the pound, but the rest of the Cabinet, almost the whole of the Labour Party, and the trade unions, bitterly opposed them. In August 1931 MacDonald, without consulting his colleagues, resigned his commission and obtained a new one for a "National Government," including the Conservatives and Liberals (minus Lloyd George). MacDonald, Snowden and Thomas were expelled from the Labour Party and formed a new National Labour Party, but this had little support in the country or the unions.

Related Topics:
1931 - National Labour Party

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