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The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the centre-left in Great Britain—that is, England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland, where the Social Democratic and Labour Party occupies a roughly similar position on the political spectrum (although people in Northern Ireland are permitted to join the Labour Party). For others with the same or similar names, see Gordon Brown (disambiguation). ...
is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Äž: For the film, see: 1900 (film). ...
This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...
This is an overview of the ideologies of parties. ...
Democratic socialism advocates socialism as a basis for the economy and democracy as a governing principle. ...
Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ...
Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, adherents of the Third Way The Third Way, or Radical center, is a centrist political philosophy of governance that embraces a mix of market and interventionist philosophies. ...
In politics, the term centre-left is commonly used to describe and denote political parties or organisations that stretch from the centre to the left or are moderately left-wing, as opposed to extreme left wing beliefs such as communism. ...
The official symbol of Socialist International. ...
The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a European political party whose members are 33 social democratic, socialist and labour parties of the European Union member states as well as Norway. ...
The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a European political party whose members are 33 social democratic, socialist and labour parties of the European Union member states as well as Norway. ...
For other uses, see Red (disambiguation). ...
A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. ...
Left wing redirects here. ...
For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...
This article is about the country. ...
This article is about the country. ...
This article is about the constituent country. ...
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP — Irish: Páirtà Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is the smaller of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland. ...
Labour surpassed the Liberal Party as the main opposition to the Conservatives in the early 1920s. It has had several spells in government, first as minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-31, then as a junior partner in the wartime coalition from 1940-1945, and then as a majority government, under Clement Attlee in 1945-51 and under Harold Wilson in 1964-70. Labour was in government again in 1974-79, under Wilson and then James Callaghan, though with a precarious and declining majority. This article is about the historic Liberal Party. ...
The Conservative Party, officially though less commonly known as the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a political party in the United Kingdom. ...
James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866 – 9 November 1937) was a British politician and three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ...
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. ...
For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ...
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005), was Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. ...
The current national Labour government won a landslide 179 seat majority in the 1997 general election under the leadership of Tony Blair, its first general election victory since October 1974 and the first general election since 1970 in which it had exceeded 40% of the popular vote. The party's large majority in the House of Commons was slightly reduced to 167 in the 2001 general election and more substantially reduced to 66 in 2005. Labour is also the leading partner in the coalition Welsh Assembly Government, is the second largest party in the Scottish Parliament, and has representation in the European Parliament. The current party leader is Gordon Brown. In politics, a landslide victory (or just a landslide) is the victory of a candidate or political party by an overwhelming majority in an election. ...
The UK general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997. ...
For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency...
The UK general election of October 1974 took place on October 10, 1974. ...
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on June 18, 1970, and resulted in a surprise loss of power for Labour under Harold Wilson, who was replaced as Prime Minister by the Conservative leader, Edward Heath. ...
The House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also includes the Sovereign and the House of Lords. ...
Tony Blair William Hague Charles Kennedy The UK general election, 2001 was held on 7 June 2001 and was dubbed the quiet landslide by the media. ...
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005. ...
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a cabinet in parliamentary government in which several parties cooperate. ...
Official logo of the Welsh Assembly Government The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) (Welsh: , LlCC) was firstly an executive body of the National Assembly for Wales, consisting of the First Minister and his Cabinet from 1999 to 2007. ...
For the national legislative body up to 1707, see Parliament of Scotland. ...
Established 1952, as the Common Assembly President Hans-Gert Pöttering (EPP) Since 16 January 2007 Vice-Presidents 14 Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (EPP) Alejo Vidal-Quadras (EPP) Gérard Onesta (Greens – EFA) Edward McMillan-Scott (ED) Mario Mauro (EPP) Miguel Angel MartÃnez MartÃnez (PES) Luigi Cocilovo (ALDE) Mechtild...
Leader redirects here. ...
For others with the same or similar names, see Gordon Brown (disambiguation). ...
Between January and March 2008, the Labour Party received just over £3 million in donations and are £17 million in debt; compared to the Conservatives' £6 million in donations and £12 million in borrowing, the Electoral Commission declared on 22 May 2008.[1]
Party ideology The Labour Party grew out of the trade union movement and socialist political parties of the 19th century, and continues to describe itself as a party of democratic socialism.[2] Labour was the first political party in Great Britain to stand for the representation of the low-paid working class and it has traditionally been the working class who are known as the Labour Party grassroots and traditional members and voters[2] Traditionally, the party was in favour of socialist policies such as public ownership of key industries, government intervention in the economy, redistribution of wealth, increased rights for workers and trade unions, and a belief in the welfare state and publicly funded healthcare and education. The Lawrence textile strike (1912), with soldiers surrounding peaceful demonstrators A trade union or labor union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages, hours, and working conditions, forming a cartel of labour. ...
Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ...
Democratic socialism advocates socialism as a basis for the economy and democracy as a governing principle. ...
The term working class is used to denote a social class. ...
This article is about state ownership. ...
Statism is a term to describe an economic system where a government implements a significant degree of centralized economic planning or intervention, as opposed to a system where the overwhelming majority of economic planning occurs at a decentralized level by private individuals in a relatively free market. ...
Income redistribution, or the redistribution of wealth, is a political policy usually promoted by members of the political left, and opposed, or less strongly supported, by members of the political right. ...
The Lawrence textile strike (1912), with soldiers surrounding peaceful demonstrators A trade union or labor union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages, hours, and working conditions, forming a cartel of labour. ...
There are three main interpretations of the idea of a welfare state: the provision of welfare services by the state. ...
Since the mid-1980s, under the leadership of Neil Kinnock, John Smith and Tony Blair the party has moved away from its traditional socialist position towards what is often described as the "Third Way" adopting some free market and Thatcherite policies, after losing four general elections between 1979 and 1997. Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock, PC (born 28 March 1942) is a British politician. ...
John Smith QC (September 13, 1938 – May 12, 1994) was a British politician who served as leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his sudden and unexpected death from a heart attack on 12 May 1994. ...
For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency...
Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, adherents of the Third Way The Third Way, or Radical center, is a centrist political philosophy of governance that embraces a mix of market and interventionist philosophies. ...
A free market is an idealized market, where all economic decisions and actions by individuals regarding transfer of money, goods, and services are voluntary, and are therefore devoid of coercion and theft (some definitions of coercion are inclusive of theft). Colloquially and loosely, a free market economy is an economy...
Margaret Thatcher Thatcherism is the system of political thought attributed to the governments of Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. ...
This has led many observers to describe the Labour Party as social democratic or even neo-liberal rather than democratic socialist.[3] Blair himself has described New Labour's political position as a "Third Way". The current Labour government have brought in socialist policies such as introducing a minimum wage and increasing the spending on the NHS and education. Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ...
The term neoliberalism is used to describe a political-economic philosophy that had major implications for government policies beginning in the 1970s – and increasingly prominent since 1980 – that de-emphasizes or rejects positive government intervention in the economy, focusing instead on achieving progress and even social justice by encouraging free...
Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, adherents of the Third Way The Third Way, or Radical center, is a centrist political philosophy of governance that embraces a mix of market and interventionist philosophies. ...
The minimum wage is the minimum rate a worker can legally be paid (usually per hour) as opposed to wages that are determined by the forces of supply and demand in a free market. ...
Party constitution and structure -
The Labour Party is a membership organisation consisting of Constituency Labour Parties, affiliated trade unions, socialist societies, and the Co-operative Party, with which it has an electoral agreement. Members who are elected to parliamentary positions take part in the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) and European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP). The party's decision-making bodies on a national level formally include the National Executive Committee (NEC), Labour Party Conference, and National Policy Forum (NPF) — although in practice the Parliamentary leadership has the final say on policy. Questions of internal party democracy have frequently provoked disputes in the party. The Labour Party Rule Book, is the governing document for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom and contains the Labour Party Constitution. ...
A Constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency in England, Scotland and Wales. ...
In British politics, the term affiliated trade union refers to a trade union that has an affiliation to the British Labour Party. ...
A Socialist Society is a membership organization which is affiliated to the Labour Party. ...
This article is about the British political party. ...
The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) consists of the Labour Party in Parliament: Labour MPs as a collective body. ...
The National Executive Committee or NEC is the chief administrative body of the UK Labour Party. ...
The Labour Party Conference, or annual national conference of the Labour Party, is formally the supreme decision-making body of the Party. ...
The National Policy Forum (NPF) of the British Labour Party is part of the policy-making system of the Party, set up by Leader Tony Blair as part of the Partnership in Power process. ...
For many years, Labour has held to a policy of uniting Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland by consent, and had not allowed residents of Northern Ireland to apply for membership,[4] instead supporting the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) which takes the Labour whip at the House of Commons. Yet Labour has a unionist faction in its ranks, many of whom assisted in the foundation in 1995 of the UK Unionist Party lead by Robert McCartney. The 2003 Labour Party Conference accepted legal advice that the party could not continue to prohibit residents of the province joining,[5] but the National Executive has decided not to organise or contest elections there. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
This article is about the constituent country. ...
Irish nationalism refers to political movements that desire greater autonomy or the independence of Ireland from Great Britain. ...
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP — Irish: Páirtà Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is the smaller of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland. ...
Type Lower House Speaker Michael Martin, (Non-affiliated) since October 23, 2000 Leader Harriet Harman, (Labour) since June 28, 2007 Shadow Leader Theresa May, (Conservative) since May 5, 2005 Members 659 Political groups Labour Party Conservative Party Liberal Democrats Scottish National Party Plaid Cymru Democratic Unionist Party Sinn Féin...
Unionism, in Ireland, is a belief in the desirability of a full constitutional and institutional relationship between Ireland and Great Britain based on the terms and order of government of the Act of Union 1800 which had merged both countries in 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain...
The UK Unionist Party (UKUP) is a small political party operating in Northern Ireland. ...
Robert McCartney QC MLA (born 1936) often known as Bob, is a Northern Ireland Barrister, unionist politician, and leader of the UK Unionist Party, and the only UKUP member of the currently-suspended Northern Ireland Assembly. ...
The party had 198,026 members on 31 December 2005 according to accounts filed with the Electoral Commission which was down on the previous year. In that year it had an income of about £35 million (£3.7 million from membership fees) and expenditure of about £50 million i.e. high due to the general election.[6] The Electorial Commission is an independent body with powers in the United Kingdom, which was created by an Act of Parliament, the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. ...
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005. ...
Party electoral manifestos have not contained the term socialism since 1992, although when Clause 4 was abolished the words "the Labour Party is a democratic socialist party" were added to the party's constitution. Clause IV of the Labour Party constitution sets out the objects of the Party, and has been the scene of political fights over its direction. ...
History -
The History of socialism in Great Britain is generally thought to stretch back to the 19th century. ...
Founding of the party The Labour Party's origins lie in the late 19th century numeric increase of the urban proletariat and the extension of the franchise to working-class males, when it became apparent that there was a need for a political party to represent the interests and needs of those groups.[7] Some members of the trade union movement became interested in moving into the political field, and after the extensions of the franchise in 1867 and 1885, the Liberal Party endorsed some trade-union sponsored candidates. In addition, several small socialist groups had formed around this time with the intention of linking the movement to political policies. Among these were the Independent Labour Party, the intellectual and largely middle-class Fabian Society, the Social Democratic Federation and the Scottish Labour Party. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a former political party in the United Kingdom. ...
Suffrage (from the Latin suffragium, meaning voting tablet, and figuratively right to vote; probably from suffrago hough, and originally a term for the pastern bone used to cast votes) is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. ...
Statue of a coal miner in Charleston, WV, USA. Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation. ...
This article is about the historic Liberal Party. ...
The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a former political party in the United Kingdom. ...
This article is about the socio-economic class from a global vantage point. ...
The Fabian Society is a British socialist intellectual movement, whose purpose is to advance the socialist cause by gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary means. ...
This article is about the British political party. ...
The Scottish Labour Party, also known as the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Party, was formed by Robert Cunninghame-Graham, the first socialist MP in the parliament of the United Kingdom, who later went on to become the first president of the Scottish National Party, and Keir Hardie, who later became the...
In the 1895 General Election the Independent Labour Party put up 28 candidates but won only 44,325 votes. Keir Hardie, the leader of the party believed that to obtain success in parliamentary elections, it would be necessary to join with other left-wing groups. The UK general election of 1895 was held from 13th July - 7th August 1895. ...
James Keir Hardie (15 August 1856 - 26 September 1915) was a Scottish socialist and labour leader, and one of the first two Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs) elected to the UK Parliament after the establishment of the Labour Party. ...
Labour Representation Committee
 Keir Hardie, one of the Labour Party's founders and first leader In 1899 a Doncaster member of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, Thomas R. Steels, proposed in his union branch that the Trade Union Congress call a special conference to bring together all the left-wing organisations and form them into a single body which would sponsor Parliamentary candidates. The motion was passed at all stages by the TUC, and this special conference was held at the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, London on February 27-28, 1900. The meeting was attended by a broad spectrum of working-class and left-wing organisations; trade unions representing about one third of the membership of the TUC delegates. [8] James Keir Hardie, Leader of the Labour Party This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...
James Keir Hardie, Leader of the Labour Party This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...
James Keir Hardie (15 August 1856 - 26 September 1915) was a Scottish socialist and labour leader, and one of the first two Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs) elected to the UK Parliament after the establishment of the Labour Party. ...
For other places with the same name, see Doncaster (disambiguation). ...
Trades Union Congress headquarters at Congress House in Great Russell Street near Tottenham Court Road, Camden, London. ...
This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...
After a debate the 129 delegates passed Hardie's motion to establish "a distinct Labour group in Parliament, who shall have their own whips, and agree upon their policy, which must embrace a readiness to cooperate with any party which for the time being may be engaged in promoting legislation in the direct interests of labour." This created an association called the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), meant to coordinate attempts to support MPs, MPs sponsored by trade unions and representing the working-class population. It had no single leader. In the absence of one, the Independent Labour Party nominee Ramsay MacDonald was elected as Secretary. He had the difficult task of keeping the various strands of opinions in the LRC united. The October 1900 "Khaki election" came too soon for the new party to effectively campaign. Only 15 candidatures were sponsored, but two were successful: Keir Hardie in Merthyr Tydfil and Richard Bell in Derby. James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866 – 9 November 1937) was a British politician and three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ...
James Keir Hardie (15 August 1856 - 26 September 1915) was a Scottish socialist and labour leader, and one of the first two Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs) elected to the UK Parliament after the establishment of the Labour Party. ...
Merthyr Tydfil was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. ...
Richard Bell (1859, Merthyr Tydfil—1 May 1930) was one of the first two British Labour Members of Parliament elected after the formation of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900. ...
Derby is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. ...
Support for the LRC was boosted by the 1901 Taff Vale Case, a dispute between strikers and a railway company that ended with the union ordered to pay £23,000 damages for a strike. The judgement effectively made strikes illegal since employers could recoup the cost of lost business from the unions. The apparent acquiescence of the Conservative government of Arthur Balfour to industrial and business interests (traditionally the allies of the Liberal Party in opposition to the Conservative's landed interests) intensified support for the LRC against a government that appeared to have little concern for the industrial proletariat and its problems. The LRC won two by-elections in 1902–1903. The Taff Vale Case was a suit brought by the Taff Vale Railway in 1901 against the trade union to which its employees belonged, the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. ...
For the steel manufacturer, see Arthur Balfour, 1st Baron Riverdale. ...
This article is about the historic Liberal Party. ...
 Labour Party Plaque from Caroone House 8 Farringdon Street (demolished 2004) In the 1906 election, the LRC won 29 seats — helped by the secret 1903 pact between Ramsay Macdonald and Liberal Chief Whip Herbert Gladstone, which aimed at avoiding Labour/Liberal contests in the interest of removing the Conservatives from office. photo by lonpicman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
photo by lonpicman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
The UK general election of 1906 was from 12th January – 8th February 1906. ...
James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866 – 9 November 1937) was a British politician and three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ...
This article is about the historic Liberal Party. ...
In their first meeting after the election, the group's Members of Parliament decided adopt the name "The Labour Party" (February 15, 1906). Keir Hardie, who had taken a leading role in getting the party established, was elected as Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (in effect, the Leader), although only by one vote over David Shackleton after several ballots. In the party's early years, the Independent Labour Party (ILP) provided much of its activist base as the party did not have an individual membership until 1918 and operated as a conglomerate of affiliated bodies until that date. The Fabian Society provided much of the intellectual stimulus for the party. One of the first acts of the new Liberal government was to reverse the Taff Vale judgement. is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Sir David James Shackleton (1863, Rossendale – 1938) was a cotton worker and trade unionist who became the third Labour Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, following the formation of the Labour Representation Committee. ...
The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a former political party in the United Kingdom. ...
The Fabian Society is a British socialist intellectual movement, whose purpose is to advance the socialist cause by gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary means. ...
Early years, and the rise of the Labour Party The December 1910 General Election saw 42 Labour MPs elected to the House of Commons. The UK general election of December 1910 was the last held over several days, from 3rd – 19th December 1910. ...
This was a significant victory since a year before the election the House of Lords had passed the Osborne judgment which ruled that Trades Unions in the United Kingdom could no longer donate money to fund the election campaigns and wages of Labour MPs. The governing Liberals were unwilling to repeal this judicial decision with primary legislation. The height of Liberal compromise was to introduce a wage for Members of Parliament, to remove the need to involve the Trade Unions. By 1913, faced with the opposition of the largest Trade Unions, the Liberal government passed the Trade Disputes Act to once more allow Trade Unions to fund Labour MPs.
During the First World War the Labour Party split between supporters and opponents of the conflict and opposition within the party to the war grew as time went on. Ramsay MacDonald, a notable anti-war campaigner, resigned as leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party and Arthur Henderson became the main figure of authority within the Party and was soon accepted into H. H. Asquith's War Cabinet, becoming the first Labour Party member to serve in government. “The Great War †redirects here. ...
James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866 – 9 November 1937) was a British politician and three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ...
The Right Honourable Arthur Henderson (September 13, 1863 – October 20, 1935) was a British politician and union leader. ...
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. ...
Despite mainstream Labour Party's support for the Coalition, the Independent Labour Party was instrumental in opposing mobilisation through organisations such as the Non-Conscription Fellowship and a Labour Party affiliate, the British Socialist Party organised a number of unofficial strikes. The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a former political party in the United Kingdom. ...
The British Socialist Party was a socialist party founded in Britain in 1911. ...
Arthur Henderson resigned from the Cabinet in 1917 amidst calls for Party unity, being replaced by George Barnes. The growth in Labour's local activist base and organisation was reflected in the elections following the War, with the co-operative movement now providing its own resources to the Co-operative Party after the armistice. The Co-operative Party later reached an electoral agreement with the Labour Party. The Right Honourable Arthur Henderson (September 13, 1863 – October 20, 1935) was a British politician and union leader. ...
George Nicoll Barnes (January 2, 1859 - April 21, 1940) was a Scottish politician. ...
A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) comprises a legal entity owned and democratically controlled by its members, with no passive shareholders. ...
This article is about the British political party. ...
Following the war The Liberal Party went into rapid decline. With the party suffering a catastophic split between supporters of leader David Lloyd George and former leader H. H. Asquith. This allowed the Labour Party to co-opt much of the Liberals' support. This article is about the historic Liberal Party. ...
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, OM, PC (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister throughout the latter half of World War I and the first four years of the subsequent peace. ...
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. ...
With the Liberals in disarray, Labour won 142 seats at the 1922 General Election making it the second largest political group in the House of Commons and the official opposition to the Conservative Government. After the election, the now rehabilitated Ramsay MacDonald was voted the first official leader of the Labour Party. The UK general election of 1922 was held on 15th November 1922. ...
First Labour governments under MacDonald (1924 and 1929-31) The 1923 general election was fought on the Conservatives' protectionist proposals; although they got the most votes and remained the largest party, they lost their majority in parliament, requiring a government supporting free trade to be formed. So with the acquiescence of Asquith's Liberals, Ramsay MacDonald became Prime Minister in January 1924 and formed the first ever Labour government, despite Labour only having 191 MPs (less than a third of the House of Commons). James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866 – 9 November 1937) was a British politician and three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ...
In the United Kingdom the term National Government is in an abstract sense used to refer to a coalition of some or all UK major political parties. ...
The UK general election of 1923 was held on 5th December 1923. ...
Protectionism is the economic policy of promoting favored domestic industries through the use of high tariffs and other regulations to discourage imports. ...
Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ...
James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866 – 9 November 1937) was a British politician and three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ...
Because the government had to rely on the support of the Liberals, it was unable to get any socialist legislation passed by the House of Commons. The only significant measure was the Wheatley Housing Act which began a building programme of 500,000 homes for rent to working-class families.
The government collapsed after only nine months when the Liberals voted for a Select Committee inquiry into the Campbell Case, a vote which MacDonald had declared to be a vote of confidence. The ensuing general election saw the publication, four days before polling day, of the notorious Zinoviev letter, which implicated Labour in a plot for a Communist revolution in Britain, and the Conservatives were returned to power, although Labour increased its vote from 30.7% of the popular vote to a third of the popular vote - most of the Conservative gains were at the expense of the Liberals. The Zinoviev letter is now generally believed to have been a forgery.[9] Sir Patrick Gardiner Hastings (March 17, 1880 - February 26, 1952) was a noted British barrister who served as Attorney General for England and Wales in 1924 and inadvertently brought down the first Labour government. ...
The 1924 UK general election was held on 29th October 1924. ...
The Zinoviev Letter is thought to have been instrumental in the Conservative Partys victory in the United Kingdom general election, 1924, which ended the countrys first Labour government. ...
In opposition, Ramsay MacDonald continued with his policy of presenting the Labour Party as a moderate force in politics. During the General Strike of 1926 he opposed strike action arguing that the best way to achieve social reforms was through the ballot box. The Subsidised Mineowner - Poor Beggar! from the Trade Union Unity Magazine (1925) Foraging for coal in the strike Tyldesley miners outside the Miners Hall during the strike The UK General Strike of 1926 lasted nine days, from 3 May 1926 to 12 May 1926, and was called by the General...
At the 1929 general election the Labour Party for the first time became the largest grouping in the House of Commons with 287 seats, and 37.1% of the popular vote (actually slightly less than the Conservatives). However, MacDonald was still reliant on Liberal support to form a minority government. The 1929 UK general election was held on 30th May 1929, and resulted in a hung parliament. ...
 the original "liberty" logo, in use until 1983 The government however, soon found itself engufed in crisis; The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and eventual Great Depression occurred soon after the government came to power, and the crisis hit Britain hard. By the end of 1930 the unemployment rate had doubled to over two and a half million.[10] Image File history File links Oldlabour2. ...
Image File history File links Oldlabour2. ...
Crowd gathering on Wall Street. ...
This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...
The government had no effective answers to the crisis. By the summer of 1931, a dispute over whether to introduce large cuts to public spending split the government. With the economic situation worsening, MacDonald agreed to form a "National Government" with the Conservatives and the Liberals. In the United Kingdom the term National Government is in an abstract sense used to refer to a coalition of some or all major political parties. ...
The Conservative Party, officially though less commonly known as the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a political party in the United Kingdom. ...
The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become known as...
On August 24 1931 MacDonald submitted the resignation of his ministers and led a small number of his senior colleagues in forming the National Government with the other parties. This move caused great anger within the Labour Party and MacDonald and his supporters were then expelled from the Labour Party and formed the National Labour Party. The remaining Labour Party, now led by Arthur Henderson, and a few Liberals went into opposition. is the 236th day of the year (237th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
National Labor Party (Australia) National Labour Party (Brazil) National Labour Party (Ireland) National Labour Party (UK 1930s) National Labour Party (UK 1950s) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
The Right Honourable Arthur Henderson (September 13, 1863 – October 20, 1935) was a British politician and union leader. ...
Soon after this, a General Election was called. The 1931 election resulted in a landslide victory for the National Government, and was a disaster for the Labour Party which won only 52 seats, 225 fewer than in 1929. Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box: A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election. ...
The UK general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. ...
Opposition during the 1930s Arthur Henderson, who had been elected in 1931 as Labour leader to succeed MacDonald, lost his seat in the 1931 General Election. The only former Labour cabinet member who survived the landslide was the pacifist George Lansbury, who accordingly became party leader. The Right Honourable Arthur Henderson (September 13, 1863 – October 20, 1935) was a British politician and union leader. ...
George Lansbury (21 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician, socialist, Christian pacifist and newspaper editor. ...
The party experienced a further split in 1932 when the Independent Labour Party, which for some years had been increasingly at odds with the Labour leadership, opted to disaffiliate from the Labour Party. The ILP embarked on a long drawn out decline. The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a former political party in the United Kingdom. ...
Lansbury resigned as leader in 1935 after public disagreements over foreign policy. He was replaced as leader by his deputy Clement Attlee. The party experienced a revival at the 1935 General Election, winning a similar number of votes to those attained in 1929 and actually, at 38% of the popular vote, the highest percentage that Labour had ever achieved, securing 154 seats. Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. ...
Stanley Baldwin Clement Attlee The UK general election held on 14th November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Stanley Baldwin. ...
Wartime coalition The party was brought back into government in 1940 as part of a wartime coalition government: When Neville Chamberlain resigned as Prime Minister after the defeat in Norway in spring 1940, and incoming Prime Minister Winston Churchill decided that it was important to bring the other main parties into the government and have a Wartime Coalition similar to that in the First World War. Clement Attlee became Lord Privy Seal and a member of the War cabinet, and was effectively (and eventually formally) Deputy Prime Minister for the remainder of the duration of the War in Europe. This article is about the British Prime Minister. ...
Churchill redirects here. ...
The Lord Privy Seal or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal is one of the traditional sinecure offices in the British Cabinet. ...
A Deputy Prime Minister is a member of a nations cabinet who can take the position of acting Prime Minister when the real Prime Minister is temporarily absent. ...
A number of other senior Labour figure took up senior positions: the trade union leader Ernest Bevin as Minister of Labour directed Britain's wartime economy and allocation of manpower; the veteran Labour statesman Herbert Morrison became Home Secretary; Hugh Dalton was Minister of Economic Warfare and later President of the Board of Trade; and A. V. Alexander resumed the role of First Lord of the Admiralty he had held in the previous Labour government. The party generally performed well in government, and its experience there may have been partly responsible for its post-war success. Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 - 14 April 1951) was a British labour leader, politician, and statesman best known for his time as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour government. ...
Minister of Labour re-directs here. ...
Herbert Morrison For others named Herbert Morrison, see Herbert Morrison (disambiguation). ...
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office and is responsible for internal affairs in England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole United Kingdom (including Scotland and Northern Ireland). ...
Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton, Baron Dalton PC , generally known as Hugh Dalton (26 August 1887 – 13 February 1962) was a British Labour Party politician, and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1945 to 1947. ...
The Minister of Economic Warfare was a British government position which existed during the Second World War. ...
The President of the Board of Trade the title of a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. ...
Albert Victor Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough, KG (1 May 1885 - 11 January 1965) was a British Labour and Co-operative politician. ...
The First Lord of the Admiralty was a British government position in charge of the Admiralty. ...
Post-War victory under Attlee With the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, Labour resolved not to repeat the Liberals' error of 1918, and withdrew from the government to contest the 1945 general election (July 5) in opposition to Churchill's Conservatives. Surprising many observers, Labour won a landslide victory, winning just under 50% of the vote with a majority of 145 seats. Clement Attlee Winston Churchill The United Kingdom General Election of 1945 held on 5 July 1945 but not counted and declared until 26 July 1945 (due to the time it took to transport the votes of those serving overseas) was one of the most significant general elections of the 20th...
Clement Attlee's government proved to be one of the most radical British governments of the 20th century. It presided over a policy of selective nationalisation of major industries and utilities, including the Bank of England, coal mining, the steel industry, electricity, gas, telephones, and inland transport (including the railways, road haulage and canals). It developed the "cradle to grave" welfare state conceived by the Liberal economist William Beveridge. To this day, the party still considers the creation in 1948 of Britain's publicly funded National Health Service under health minister Aneurin Bevan its proudest achievement. Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. ...
Nationalization is the act of taking assets into state ownership. ...
Headquarters Coordinates , , Governor Mervyn King Central Bank of United Kingdom Currency Pound sterling ISO 4217 Code GBP Base borrowing rate 5. ...
The National Coal Board (NCB) was the nationalised British coal mining company. ...
British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system, from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ...
There are three main interpretations of the idea of a welfare state: the provision of welfare services by the state. ...
William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and social reformer. ...
Publicly-funded health care is a health care system that is financed entirely or in majority part by citizens tax payments instead of through private payments made to insurance companies or directly to health care providers (health insurance premiums, copayments or deductibles)[citation needed]. // Publicly-funded health care systems are...
NHS redirects here. ...
A statue of Bevan in Cardiff. ...
Attlee's government also began the process of dismantling the British Empire when it granted independence to India in 1947. This was followed by Burma (Myanmar) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) the following year. For a comprehensive list of the territories that formed the British Empire, see Evolution of the British Empire. ...
Anthem: Kaba Ma Kyei Capital Naypyidaw , Largest city Yangon (Rangoon) Official languages Burmese Recognised regional languages Jingpho, Shan, Karen, Mon, Rakhine Demonym Burmese Government Military junta - Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Senior General Than Shwe - Vice Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Vice-Senior General...
With the onset of the Cold War, at a secret meeting in January 1947, Attlee, and six cabinet ministers including foreign minister Ernest Bevin, secretly decided to proceed with the development of Britain's nuclear deterrent,[10] in opposition to the pacifist and anti-nuclear stances of a large element inside the Labour Party. For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ...
Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 - 14 April 1951) was a British labour leader, politician, and statesman best known for his time as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour government. ...
Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is the doctrine of military strategy in which a full scale use of nuclear weapons by one of two opposing sides would result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender. ...
Labour won the 1950 general election but with a much reduced majority of five seats. Soon after the 1950 election, things started to go badly wrong for the Labour government. Defence became one of the divisive issues for Labour itself, especially defence spending (which reached 14% of GDP in 1951 during the Korean War[11]). These costs put enormous strain on public finances, forcing savings to be found elsewhere. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Hugh Gaitskell introduced prescription charges for NHS prescriptions, causing Bevan, along with Harold Wilson (President of the Board of Trade) to resign over the dilution of the principle of free treatment. The United Kingdom general election in 1950 was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. ...
Belligerents United Nations: Republic of Korea Australia Belgium Canada Colombia Ethiopia France Greece Luxembourg Netherlands New Zealand Philippines South Africa Thailand Turkey United Kingdom United States Naval Support and Military Servicing/Repairs: Japan Medical staff: Denmark Italy Norway India Sweden DPR Korea PR China Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee Chung...
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister responsible for all economic and financial matters. ...
Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell (April 9, 1906 – January 18, 1963) was a British politician, leader of the Labour Party from 1955 until his death in 1963. ...
Zoloft, an antidepressant and antianxiety medication A prescription drug is a licensed medicine that is regulated by legislation to require a prescription before it can be obtained. ...
Zoloft, an antidepressant and antianxiety medication A prescription drug is a licensed medicine that is regulated by legislation to require a prescription before it can be obtained. ...
For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ...
The President of the Board of Trade the title of a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. ...
Soon after this, another election was called. Labour narrowly lost the October 1951 election to the Conservatives, despite their receiving a larger share of the popular vote and, in fact, their highest vote ever numerically. The 1951 election was held soon after the UK general election, 1950, which Labour won, but with an unworkable majority. ...
Most of the changes introduced by the 1945-51 Labour government however were accepted by the Conservatives and became part of the "post war consensus", which lasted until the 1970s The post-war consensus was an era in British political history which lasted from the end of World War Two to the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1979. ...
The "Thirteen Wasted Years" Following their defeat in 1951 the party underwent a long period in opposition lasting thirteen years. The party suffered an ideological split during the 1950s, and the postwar economic recovery meant that the public was broadly contented with the Conservative governments of the time. Attlee remained as leader until his retirement in 1955.
His replacement Hugh Gaitskell struggled with internal divisions within the party in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and Labour lost the 1959 general election. Gaitskell's sudden death in 1963 made way for Harold Wilson to lead the party. Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell (April 9, 1906 – January 18, 1963) was a British politician, leader of the Labour Party from 1955 until his death in 1963. ...
This United Kingdom general election was held on October 8, 1959, and marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative party, led by Harold MacMillan. ...
For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ...
The 1960s and 1970s
Labour in government under Wilson (1964-1970) A downturn in the economy, along with a series of scandals in the early 1960s (the most notorious being the Profumo affair), engulfed the Conservative government by 1963. The Labour party returned to government with a wafer-thin 4 seat majority under Wilson in the 1964 election, and increased their majority to 96 in 1966 election. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 455 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (679 × 894 pixel, file size: 88 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Harold Wilson United...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 455 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (679 × 894 pixel, file size: 88 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Harold Wilson United...
For other persons named Harold Wilson, see Harold Wilson (disambiguation). ...
The Profumo Affair was a political scandal from 1963 in the United Kingdom that is named after the then-Secretary of State for War, John Profumo. ...
The United Kingdom general election of 1964 result was a very slim majority for the Labour Party, of 4, and led to their first government since 1951. ...
The UK general election in 1966 was called by Harold Wilson because his government, elected in the 1964 election, had an unworkably small majority. ...
Events derailed the wave of optimism which swept Labour to power in 1964. Wilson's government struggled with economic problems over the balance of payments and an ultimately doomed attempt to stave off devaluation of the pound. The balance of payments is a measure of the payments that flow from one exports and imports of goods, services, and financial capital, as well financial transfers. ...
GBP redirects here. ...
Wilson's government however was responsible for a number of social and educational reforms such as legalisation of abortion and homosexuality, and the abolition of the death penalty for murder. The 1960s Labour government also expanded comprehensive education and created the Open University. Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ...
Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ...
A Comprehensive school is a type of school providing secondary level education in England and Wales. ...
Affiliations Alliance of Non-Aligned Universities, Association of Commonwealth Universities, European Association of Distance Teaching Universities, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Website http://www. ...
Labour unexpectedly lost the 1970 general election to the Conservatives under Edward Heath. Heath's government however soon ran into trouble over Northern Ireland and a dispute with miners in 1973 which led to the "three-day week". The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on June 18, 1970, and resulted in a surprise loss of power for Labour under Harold Wilson, who was replaced as Prime Minister by the Conservative leader, Edward Heath. ...
Sir Edward Richard George Heath, KG, OBE (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. ...
This article is about the constituent country. ...
The Three-Day Week was one of several measures introduced in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Government 1970-1974 to conserve electricity, the production of which was severely limited due to industrial action by coal miners. ...
The 1970s proved to be a very difficult time to be in government for both the Conservatives and Labour due to the 1973 oil crisis which caused high inflation and a global recession. The 1973 oil crisis began on October 17, 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC, consisting of the Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria) announced, as a result of the ongoing Yom Kippur War, that they would no longer ship oil to nations...
Labour returned to power again under Wilson a few weeks after the February 1974 general election, forming a minority government with Ulster Unionist support. The Conservatives were unable to form a government as they had fewer seats, even though they had received more votes. It was the first General Election since 1924 in which both main parties received less than 40% of the popular vote, and was the first of six successive General Elections in which Labour failed to reach 40% of the popular vote. In a bid for Labour to gain a majority, a second election was soon called for October 1974 in which Labour, still with Harold Wilson as leader, scraped a majority of three, gaining just 18 seats and taking their total to 319. The UK general election of February 1974 was held on February 28, 1974. ...
The UK general election of October 1974 took place on October 10, 1974. ...
Labour in power (1974-1979) In government, the Labour Party's internal splits over Britain's membership of the European Economic Community (EEC) which Britain had entered under Edward Heath in 1972, led to a national referendum on the issue in 1975, in which two thirds of the public supported continued membership. The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ...
The United Kingdom referendum of 1975 was a post-legislative referendum held on 5 June 1975 in the whole of the United Kingdom over whether there was support for it to stay in the European Economic Community, which it had entered in 1973, under the Conservative government of Edward Heath. ...
The Labour Government struggled for much of its time in office with severe economic problems and a precarious and declining majority in the commons. Fear of advances by the nationalist parties, particularly in Scotland, led to the suppression of a report from Scottish Office economist gavin McCrone which suggested that an independent Scotland would be 'chronically in surplus' and to secret collusion with Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives[citation needed]. Harold Wilson unexpectedly resigned as prime minister in 1976. He was replaced by James Callaghan. Image File history File links James_Callaghan. ...
Image File history File links James_Callaghan. ...
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005), was Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. ...
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005), was Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. ...
By 1977 Callaghan was heading a minority government after several by-election losses and defections to the breakaway Scottish Labour Party. This forced Labour to do deals with other parties. A pact was negotiated with the Liberal leader David Steel in 1977. The resultant Lib-Lab pact lasted one year. After this Labour was forced into making good their election promise to hold referendums on Scottish and Welsh devolution. In Scotland the majority of voters approved the proposition, but an amendment by George Cunningham MP which effectively meant that electors who did not cast their votes counted as 'no' voters prevented the erection of a Scottish Assembly. This article is about the Scottish Labour Party founded in 1976. ...
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC (born 31 March 1938) is a British and Scottish politician and a Liberal Democrat member of the UK House of Lords. ...
Lib-Lab Pact has been the term used to describe a working arrangement between the UKs political parties of the Liberals (later Liberal Democrats) and the Labour Party. ...
The Wilson and Callaghan governments in the 1970s tried to control inflation (which had reached 26.9% in 1975) by instituting a policy of wage restraint. Although this initially was reasonably successful, it led to increasingly strained relations between the government and the trade unions. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
During the winter of 1978-79 there were widespread strikes in favour of higher pay rises which caused significant disruption to everyday life. The strikes affected lorry drivers, railway workers, car workers and local government and hospital workers. These came to be dubbed as the "Winter of Discontent
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