The Rt Hon James Ramsay MacDonald
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 22 January 1924 – 4 November 1924
In office 5 June 1929 – 7 June 1935
Preceded by	Stanley Baldwin
Succeeded by	Stanley Baldwin
Born	12 October 1866 Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland
Died	9 November 1937 The Atlantic Ocean, on holiday aboard the liner Reina del Pacifico
Political party	Labour (until 1931), National Labour (from 1931)

James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866 – 9 November 1937) was a British politician and three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He rose from humble origins to become the first Labour Prime Minister in 1924. His third period as Prime Minister was during the crisis of the Great Depression when he formed a "National Government" in which a majority of MPs were from the Conservatives and was expelled from the Labour Party. Image File history File linksMetadata Ramsaymacdonald03. ... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, in practice, the political leader of the the United Kingdom. ... January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 57 days remaining. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... June 5 is the 156th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (157th in leap years), with 209 days remaining. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC (3 August 1867–14 December 1947) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on three separate occasions. ... Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC (3 August 1867–14 December 1947) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on three separate occasions. ... October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (286th in leap years). ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Lossiemouth, is a burgh in Moray, Scotland. ... Moray (pronounced Murray, spelled A Moireibh in Gaelic) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. ... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity(English) Wha daur meddle wi me? (Scots)[1] Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots[2] Government  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I... November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 52 days remaining. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... A liner is a big passenger ship where the passengers can sleep onboard. ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in the United Kingdom. ... 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. ... October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (286th in leap years). ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 52 days remaining. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, in practice, the political leader of the the United Kingdom. ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in the United Kingdom. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn which started in October of 1929 and lasted through most of the 1930s. ... 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 new logo of the Conservative Party The Conservative Party is the largest centre right political party in the United Kingdom. ...

Early career

Lossiemouth

MacDonald was born in Lossiemouth, in Morayshire in northeast Scotland, the illegitimate son of John MacDonald, a farm labourer, and Anne Ramsay, a housemaid.^[1] Although registered at birth as James MacDonald Ramsay, he was known as Jaimie MacDonald. Illegitimacy could be a serious handicap in 19th-century Presbyterian Scotland, but in the north and northeast farming communities, this was less of a problem; In 1868 a report of the Royal Commission on the Employment of Children, Young Persons and Women in Agriculture noted that the illegitimacy rate was around 15%^[2] and it is unclear to what extent the associated stigma affected MacDonald throughout his life. He received an elementary education at the Free Church of Scotland school in Lossiemouth, and then in 1875 at the local Drainie parish school. In 1881 he became a pupil teacher at Drainie and the entry in the school register as a member of staff was 'J. MacDonald'.^[3] He remained in this post until 1 May 1885 to take up a position as an assistant to a clergyman in Bristol.^[4] It was in Bristol, that he joined the Democratic Federation, an extreme Radical sect. This federation changed its name a few months later to the Social Democratic Federation (SDF).^[5][6] He remained in the group when it left the SDF to become the Bristol Socialist Society. MacDonald returned to Lossiemouth before the end of the year for reasons unknown but in early 1886 once again left Lossiemouth for London.^[7] Lossiemouth, is a burgh in Moray, Scotland. ... Morayshire or Elginshire (Siorrachd Mhoireibh in Gaelic) is one of the traditional counties of Scotland, bordering Nairnshire to the west, Inverness-shire to the south, and Banffshire to the east. ... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity(English) Wha daur meddle wi me? (Scots)[1] Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots[2] Government  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I... // Illegitimacy is a term that was once in common use for the status of being born to parents who were not validly married to one another. ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... This article concerns the Free Church of Scotland 1843-1900, for the Free Church of Scotland existing from 1900 to the present day see Free Church of Scotland (post 1900). ... The Radicals were a parliamentary political grouping in the United Kingdom in the early to mid 19th century, who drew on earlier ideas of radicalism and helped to transform the Whigs into the Liberal Party. ... This article is about the British political party. ... The Bristol Socialist Society was a political organisation in South West England. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

London

He arrived in London jobless^[8] but after some short-term menial work, he found employment as a clerk.^[9] Meanwhile, MacDonald was deepening his socialist credentials. He engaged himself energetically in C. L. Fitzgerald's Socialist Union which, unlike the SDF, aimed to progress socialist ideals through the parliamentary system.^[10] On 13 November, 1887, MacDonald witnessed the Bloody Sunday of 13 November, 1887 in Trafalgar Square and in response to this he had a pamphlet published by the Pall Mall Gazette entitled Remember Trafalgar Square: Tory Terrorism in 1887.^[11] The Socialist Union was a British political party active from February 1886 to 1888. ... Bloody Sunday 1887 Bloody Sunday, London, 13 November 1887, was the name given to a demonstration against coercion in Ireland and to demand the release from prison of MP William OBrien. ... The Pall Mall Gazette was an evening newpaper founded in London February 7, 1865. ... Trafalgar Square viewed from the northeast corner. ...

MacDonald retained an interest in Scottish politics. Gladstone's first Irish Home Rule Bill inspired the setting-up of a Scottish Home Rule Association in Edinburgh. On 6 March 1888, MacDonald took part in a meeting of Scotsmen who were London residents and who, on his motion, formed the London General Committee of Scottish Home Rule Association.^[12] He continued to support home rule for Scotland but with little support from London Scots forthcoming, his enthusiasm for the committee wained and from 1890 he took little part in its work.^[13][14] Gladstone is the name of several places: Gladstone, Queensland, Australia Gladstone, South Australia, Australia Gladstone, Michigan, United States of America Gladstone, Missouri, USA Gladstone, New Jersey, USA Gladstone, Oregon, USA Gladstone, Virginia, USA William Ewart Gladstone was repeatedly the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from the 1860s through the... There were four Irish Home Rule Bills in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, to reverse parts of the 1801 Act of Union. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. ...

Politics at this time, however, was still of less importance to MacDonald than furthering himself in employment. To this end he studied science at evening classes but his health suddenly failed him due to exhaustion one week before his examinations. This put an end to any thought of having a career in science.^[15] In 1888, MacDonald took employment as private secretary to Thomas Lough who was a tea merchant and a Radical politician.^{[16] [17]} Lough was elected as the Liberal MP for West Islington, in 1892. Many doors now opened to MacDonald. He had access to the National Liberal Club as well as the editorial offices of Liberal and Radical newspapers. He also made himself known to various London Radical clubs and with Radical and labour politicians. MacDonald gained valuable experience in the workings of electioneering. In 1892, he left Lough’s employment to become a journalist and was not immediately successful. By then, MacDonald had been a member of the Fabian Society for some time and toured and lectured on its behalf.^[18] The term Radical (latin radix meaning root) has been used since the late 18th century as a label in political science for those favoring or trying to produce thoroughgoing political reforms which can include changes to the social order to a greater or lesser extent. ... The Fabian Society is a British socialist intellectual movement, whose purpose is to advance the socialist cause by reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. ...

Active politics

The TUC had created the Labour Electoral Association (LEA) and entered into an unsatisfactory alliance with the Liberal Party in 1886.^[19] In 1892, MacDonald was in Dover to give support to the candidate for the LEA in the General Election and who was well beaten. MacDonald impressed the local press^[20] and the Association, however, and was adopted as its candidate. MacDonald, though, announced that his candidature would be under a Labour Party banner.^[21] He denied that the Labour Party was a wing of the Liberal Party but saw merit in a working relationship. In May 1894, the local Southampton Liberal Association was trying to find a labour minded candidate for the constituency. MacDonald along with two others were invited to address the Liberal Council. One of three men turned down the invitation and MacDonald failed to secure the candidature despite the strong support he had among Liberals.^[22]

In 1893, Keir Hardie had formed the Independent Labour Party (ILP) and had established itself as a mass movement and so in May 1894 MacDonald applied for membership of, and was accepted into, the ILP. He was officially adopted as the ILP candidate for one of the Southampton seats on 17 July 1894^[23] but was heavily defeated at the election of 1895. MacDonald stood again for Parliament again in 1900 for one of the two Leicester seats and although he lost was accused of splitting the Liberal vote to allow the Conservative candite to win.^[24] That same year he became Secretary of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), 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 future Labour Party in which the ILP members would operate as a "ginger group" for many years. James Keir Hardie (August 15, 1856 - September 26, 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. ... The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a former political party in the United Kingdom. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar, but a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. ... The Labour Representation Committee (LRC) was formed on February 27, 1900, at a conference at which representatives of the main socialist groupings in the United Kingdom were present. ... Marxism refers to the philosophy and social theory based on Karl Marxs work on one hand, and the political practice based on Marxist theory on the other hand (namely, parts of the First International during Marxs time, communist parties and later states). ... A ginger group is a formal or informal grouping of people within a larger organisation that actively works for more radical change to the policies, practices or office-holders of the organisation, while still supporting the goals of the organisation. ...

As Party Secretary, MacDonald negotiated an agreement with the leading Liberal politician Herbert Gladstone (son of the late Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone), which allowed Labour to contest a number of working-class seats without Liberal opposition,^[25] thus giving Labour its first breakthrough into the House of Commons. He married Margaret Gladstone, who was unrelated to the Gladstones of the Liberal Party, in 1896. Margaret Gladstone MacDonald was very comfortably off, although not hugely wealthy.^[26] This allowed them to indulge in foreign travel, visiting Canada and the United States in 1897, South Africa in 1902, Australia and New Zealand in 1906 and to India several times. The Gladstone-MacDonald pact of 1903 was a secret informal electoral agreement negotiated by Herbet Gladstone, Liberal Party Chief Whip, and Ramsay MacDonald, Secretary of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC). ... 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... Herbert John Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone, GCB, GCMG, GBE (February 18, 1854 - March 6, 1930) was a British Liberal politician and statesman. ... William Ewart Gladstone (29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British Liberal Party statesman and Prime Minister (1868–1874, 1880–1885, 1886 and 1892–1894). ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Year 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar). ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1906, the LRC changed its name to the "Labour Party", and absorbed the ILP.^[27] In that same year, MacDonald was elected MP for Leicester along with 28 others,^[28] and became one of the leaders of the Parliamentary Labour Party. These Labour MPs undoubtedly owed their election to the ‘Progressive Alliance’ between the Liberals and Labour which at this time was a minor party supporting the Liberal governments of Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith. MacDonald became the leader of the left wing of the party, arguing that Labour must seek to displace the Liberals as the main party of the left. 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in the United Kingdom. ... Leicester (pronounced ) is the largest city in the East Midlands of England. ... The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) consists of the Labour Party in Parliament: Labour MPs as a collective body. ... Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (7 September 1836 – 22 April 1908) , also known as Andie McDowell, was a British Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister from December 5, 1905 until resigning due to ill health on April 3, 1908. ... 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. ...

Party leader

Hoist with this own petard.
Mr. Ramsay Macdonald (Champion of Independent Labour). "Of course I'm all for peaceful picketing - on principle. But it must be applied to the proper parties."
Cartoon from Punch June 20, 1917

In 1911 MacDonald became Party Leader (formally "Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party"),^[29] but within a short period his wife became ill with blood poisoning and died. This affected MacDonald very much^[30] and took him some time to recover. MacDonald had always taken a keen interest in foreign affairs and knew from his visit to South Africa just after the Boer War had ended, what the effects of modern conflict would have.^[31] Although the Parliamentary Labour Party generally held an anti-war opinion, the fact was that when war was declared in August 1914, patriotism came to the fore.^[32] Labour supported the government in its request for £100,000,000 of war credits and, as MacDonald could not support this, he resigned the Chairmanship.^[33] Arther Henderson became the new leader while MacDonald took the party Treasurer post.^[34] During the early part of the war he was extremely unpopular and was accused of treason and cowardice. The journal, John Bull published in September, 1915 an article carrying details of MacDonald’s so-called deceit in not disclosing his real name.^[35] His illegitimacy was no secret and he hadn’t seemed to have suffered by it, but according to the journal he had, by using a false name, gained access to parliament falsely and that he should suffer heavy penalties and have his election declared void. However, MacDonald received much support but the way in which the disclosures were made public had affected him.^[36] He wrote in his diary Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2020x2533, 388 KB) Hoist with this own petard. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2020x2533, 388 KB) Hoist with this own petard. ... Punch was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... Combatants United Kingdom Australia New Zealand Canada Cape Colony Orange Free State South African Republic Commanders Redvers Buller Frederick Roberts Herbert Kitchener Paul Kruger Martinus Steyn Louis Botha Christiaan de Wet Casualties 22,000 6,500 Civilians killed [mainly Boers]: 24,000+ The Second Boer War, commonly referred to as...

... I spent hours of terrible mental pain. Letters of sympathy began to pour in upon me... Never before did I know that I had been registered under the name of Ramsay, and cannot understand it now. From my earliest years my name has been entered in lists, like the school register, etc. as MacDonald.

Yet, despite his opposition to the war, MacDonald still visited the front in December 1914.^[37] Lord Elton wrote:

... he arrived in Belgium with an ambulance unit organised by Dr Hector Munro. The following day he had disappeared and agitated enquiry disclosed that he had been arrested and sent back to Britain. At home he saw Lord Kitchener who expressed his annoyance at the incident and gave instructions for him to be given an “omnibus” pass to the whole Western Front. He returned to an entirely different reception and was met by General Seeley at Poperinghe who expressed his regrets at the way MacDonald had been treated. They set off for the front at Ypres and soon found themselves in the thick of an action in which both behaved with the utmost coolness. Later, MacDonald was received by the Commander-in-Chief at St Omer and made an extensive tour of the front. Returning home, he paid a public tribute to the courage of the French troops, but said nothing then or later of having been under fire himself. The Earl Kitchener Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC (24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was an Irish-born British Field Marshal, diplomat and statesman. ...

As the war dragged on his reputation recovered but nevertheless he lost his seat in the 1918 "khaki election", which saw the Liberal David Lloyd George coalition government win a huge majority. In 1922 the Conservatives left the coalition and Bonar Law, who had taken over from Lloyd George, called an election on 26 October. MacDonald was returned to the House as MP for Aberavon in Wales and his rehabitation was complete; the Labour New Leader wrote that his election was Year 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... The United Kingdom general election of 1918 held on 14th December 1918, after the Representation of the People Act 1918. ... David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor, OM, PC (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was a British statesman who guided Britain and the Commonwealth of Nations through World War I and the postwar settlement as the Liberal Party Prime Minister, 1916-1922. ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... Andrew Bonar Law (September 16, 1858 _ October 30, 1923) was a Conservative British statesman and Prime Minister. ... Aberavon is a parliamentary constituency of south Wales, on the right bank of the River Afan, near its mouth in Swansea Bay, the original village of Aberavon or Aberafan nowadays being a district of Port Talbot. ... This article is about the country. ...

enough in itself to transform our position in the House. We have once more a voice which must be heard.^[38]

By now the party was reunited and MacDonald was re-elected as Leader. The Liberals by this point were in rapid decline and at the 1922 election Labour became the main opposition party to the Conservative government of Stanley Baldwin, making MacDonald Leader of the Opposition. By this time he had moved away from the hard left and abandoned the socialism of his youth — he strongly opposed the wave of radicalism that swept through the labour movement in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917 — and became a determined enemy of Communism. Unlike the French Socialist Party and the German SPD, the Labour Party did not split and the Communist Party of Great Britain remained small and isolated. Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC (3 August 1867–14 December 1947) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on three separate occasions. ... The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest party not in government in a Westminster System of parliamentary government. ... The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a series of political and social upheavals in Russia, involving first the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy, and then the overthrow of the liberal and moderate-socialist Provisional Government, resulting in the establishment of Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party. ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ... The emblem of the French Socialist Party The Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste or PS), founded in 1969, is the main opposition party in France. ... SPD redirects here. ... The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist party in the United Kingdom. ...

Although he was a gifted speaker, MacDonald became noted for "woolly" rhetoric such as the occasion at the Labour Party Conference of 1930 at Llandudno when he appeared to imply unemployment could be solved by encouraging the jobless to return to the fields "where they till and they grow and they sow and they harvest." Equally there were times it was unclear what his policies were. There was already some unease in the party about what he would do if Labour was able to form a government. At the 1923 election the Conservatives lost their majority, and when they lost a vote of confidence in the House in January 1924 King George V called on MacDonald to form a minority Labour government, with the tacit support of the Liberals under Asquith from the corner benches. MacDonald thus became the first Labour Prime Minister, the first from a "working-class" background and one of the very few without a university education. {{year nav|1939 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 - 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, as a result of his creating it from the British branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. ...

First government

MacDonald took the post of Foreign Secretary as well as Prime Minister, and made it clear that his main priority was to undo the damage which he believed had been caused by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, by settling the reparations issue and coming to terms with Germany. He left domestic matters to his ministers, including J.R. Clynes as Lord Privy Seal, Philip Snowden as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Henderson as Home Secretary. Since the government did not have a majority in either House of the Parliament, there was in any case no possibility of passing any radical legislation. Politics is the process by which groups make decisions. ... 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. ... Labor rights or workers rights are a group of legal rights and claimed human rights having to do with labor relations between workers and their employers. ... There are three main interpretations of the idea of a welfare state: the provision of welfare services by the state. ... A mixed economy is an economy that has a mix of economic systems. ... Certified Fair trade quinoa producers in Ecuador. ... This is a list of parties in the world that consider themselves to be upholding the principles and values of social democracy. ... The official symbol of Socialist International The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of social democratic, labor, and democratic socialist political parties. ... 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 International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is the worlds largest trade union federation. ... Eduard Bernstein Eduard Bernstein (January 6, 1850 - December 18, 1932) was a German social democratic theoretician and politician, member of the SPD, and founder of evolutionary socialism or reformism. ... Hjalmar Branting (November 23, 1860 – February 24, 1925) was a Swedish statesman and the countrys chief Social Democratic leader. ... This is not the Friedrich Ebert involved in the founding of the GDR, but rather his father. ... Jean Jaurès. ... Léon Blum Léon Blum (9 April 1872 - 30 March 1950), was the Prime Minister of France three times: from 1936 to 1937, for one month in 1938, and from December 1946 to January 1947. ... Karl Kautsky (October 18, 1854 - October 17, 1938) was a leading theoretician of social democracy. ... Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, FRS, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1945 to 1951. ... The title of Foreign Secretary has been traditionally used to refer to the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. ... A prime minister is the most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Palace of Versailles, where the treaty was signed. ... The reparations were a series of payments the German state was forced to make following its defeat during World War I, under Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles. ... Rt. ... The Lord Privy Seal or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal is one of the traditional sinecure offices in the British Cabinet. ... Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden (July 18, 1864 - May 15, 1937) was a British politician, and the first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer. ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British cabinet minister responsible for all financial matters. ... 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). ...

The First Labour Government, 1924, p. 204> MacDonald took the decision in March 1924 to end construction work on the Singapore military base despite strong opposition from the Admiralty^[39]. In June, MacDonald convened a conference in London of the wartime Allies, and achieved an agreement on a new plan for settling the reparations issue and the French occupation of the Ruhr. German delegates then joined the meeting, and the London Settlement signed. This was followed by an Anglo-German commercial treaty. MacDonald the neophyte Prime Minister was hugely proud of what had been achieved and was the pinnacle of his administration's achievements.^[40] In September he made a speech to the League of Nations Assembly in Geneva, the main thrust of which was for general European disarmament which was received with great acclamation.^[41] For the conurbation see Ruhr Area. ... The League of Nations was an international organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. ... Hunters a cool hobo For other uses, see Geneva (disambiguation). ... Disarmament means the act of reducing or depriving arms i. ...

But before all of this the United Kingdom had recognised the Soviet Union and MacDonald informed parliament in February 1924 that negotiations would begin to negotiate a treaty with the Soviet Union.^[42] The treaty was to cover Anglo-Soviet trade and the situation of the British bondholders who had contracted with the pre-revolutionary Russian government and which had been rejected by the Bolsheviks. There were in fact to be two treaties. One covering commercial matters and the other to cover a fairly vague future discussion on the the problem of the bondholders. If and when the treaties were signed, then the British government would conclude a further treaty and guarantee a loan to the Bolsheviks.^[43] The treaties were not popular with the Conservatives nor with the Liberals who, in September, criticized the loan so vehemently that negotiation with them seemed impossible.^[44]

However, it was the "Campbell Case" — the abrogation of prosecuting the left-wing newspaper the Workers Weekly — that determined its fate. The Conservatives put forth a censure motion, to which the Liberals added an amendment. MacDonald's Cabinet resolved to treat both motions as matters of confidence, which if passed, would necessitate a dissolution of government. The Liberal amendment carried and the King granted MacDonald a dissolution of parliament the following day.^[45] The issues which dominated the election campaign were, unsurprisingly, the Campbell case and the Russian treaties which soon combined into the single issue of the Bolshevik threat.^[46] The Campbell Case of 1924 was instrumental in bringing down the first Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... A Motion of Confidence is a motion of support proposed by a government in a parliament or other assembly of elected representatives to give members of parliament (or other such assembly) a chance to register their confidence in a government. ...

Then on 25 October, just 4 days before the election, the Daily Mail reported that a letter had come into its possession which purported to be a letter sent from Zinoviev, the President of the Communist International, to the British representative on the Comintern Executive. The letter was dated 15 September and so before the dissolution of parliament; it stated that it was imperative that the agreed treaties between Britain and the Bolsheviks be ratified urgently. To this end, the letter said that those Labour members who could apply pressure on the government should do so. It went on to say that a resolution of the relationship between the two countries would ‘ assist in the revolutionising of the international and British proletariat …. make it possible for us to extend and develop the ideas of Leninism in England and the Colonies.’ The government had received the letter before the publication in the newspapers and had protested to the Bolshevik’s London chargé d’affaires and had already decided to make public the contents of the letter together with details of the official protest^[47] but had not been swift footed enough. MacDonald always believed that the letter was forgery ^[48] but damage had been done to his campaign. 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. ...

Despite all that had gone on, the result of the election was not disasterous to Labour. The Conservatives were returned decisively gaining 155 seats for a total of 413 memebers of parliament. Labour lost 40 seats but held on to 151 while the Liberals lost 118 seats leaving them with only 40.

Second government

The strong majority enjoyed by Baldwin’s party allowed him to preside over a government that would serve a full term during which it would have to deal with the General Strike and miners’ strike of 1926. Unemployment in the UK during this period remained high but relatively stable at just over 10% and, apart from 1926, strikes were at a low level.^[49] At the May 1929 election, Labour won 288 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 Harbour 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. A general strike is a strike action by an entire labour force in a city, region or country. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Seaham was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was in existence between 1918 and 1950. ... County Durham is a county in north-east England. ... James (Jimmy) Henry Thomas, (October 3, 1874 - January 21, 1949) was a British trade unionist and Labour politician. ... Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (November 16, 1896 – December 3, 1980), was a British politician known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists. ...

MacDonald's second government was in a stronger parliamentary position than his first, and in 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 (i.e. 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. Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Responsible government is a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ...

MacDonald's government had no effective response to the economic crisis which followed the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Snowden was a rigid exponent of orthodox finance and would not permit any deficit spending to stimulate the economy, despite the urgings of Mosley, Lloyd George and the economist John Maynard Keynes. The 1929 stock market crash devastated economies worldwide The Wall Street Crash refers to the stock market crash that occurred on October 29, 1929, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed, leading eventually to the Great Depression. ... John Maynard Keynes (right) and Harry Dexter White at the Bretton Woods Conference John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, CB (pronounced canes, IPA ) (5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946) was a British economist whose ideas, called Keynesian economics, had a major impact on modern economic and political theory as well...

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. Keynes, though, urged MacDonald to devalue the pound by 25% and abandon the existing economic policy of a balanced budget. MacDonald, Snowden and Thomas, however, supported such measures as necessary to maintain a balanced budget and to prevent a run on the Pound sterling, but the measures split the Cabinet down the middle and the trade unions bitterly opposed them. Although there was a narrow majority in the Cabinet for drastic reductions, the minority included senior ministers such as Henderson who made it clear they would resign rather than aquiesce to the cuts. On August 24, 1931 MacDonald submitted his resignation and then agreed to form a National Government including the Conservatives and Liberals. MacDonald, Snowden and Thomas were expelled from the Labour Party and subsequently formed a new National Labour Party, but this had little support in the country or the unions. 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... ISO 4217 Code GBP User(s) United Kingdom Inflation 2. ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... 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. ... This article is about the political party that existed from 1931-1945. ...

National Government

MacDonald did not want an immediate election, but the Conservatives forced him to agree to one in October 1931. The National Government won 554 seats, comprising 470 Conservatives, 13 National Labour, 68 Liberals (Liberal National and Liberal) and various others, while Labour won only 52 and the Lloyd George Liberals four. This was the largest mandate ever won by a British Prime Minister at a democratic election, but it left MacDonald at the beck-and-call of the Conservatives. Neville Chamberlain became Chancellor of the Exchequer while Baldwin held the real power in the government as Lord President. MacDonald was deeply affected by the anger and bitterness caused by the fall of the Labour government. He continued to regard himself as a true Labour man, but the rupturing of virtually all his old friendships left him an isolated figure. 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Arthur Neville Chamberlain(18 March 1869 – 9 November 1940), known as Neville Chamberlain, was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940. ... The Office of Lord President of the Council is a British cabinet position, the holder of which acts as presiding officer of the Privy Council. ...

During 1933 and 1934 MacDonald's health declined, and he became an increasingly ineffective leader as the international situation grew more threatening. His pacifism, which had been widely admired in the 1920s, led Winston Churchill and others to accuse him of failure to stand up to the threat of Adolf Hitler. In May 1935 he was forced to resign as Prime Minister, taking the largely honorary post of Lord President vacated by Baldwin, who returned to power. At the election later in the year MacDonald was defeated at Seaham by Emanuel Shinwell. Shortly after he was elected at a by-election for the Combined Scottish Universities seat, but his physical and mental health collapsed in 1936. A sea voyage was recommended to restore his health, and he died at sea in November 1937. Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Churchill redirects here. ... Hitler redirects here. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Emanuel Shinwell (October 18, 1884-May 8, 1986) (familiarly known as Manny) was born in London, but moved with his Jewish family to Scotland. ... The Combined Scottish Universities was a university constituency in the United Kingdom Parliament (from 1918 until 1950). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

MacDonald's expulsion from Labour along with his National Labour Party's coalition with the Conservatives, combined with the decline in his mental powers after 1931, left him a discredited figure at the time of his death and receiving unsympathetic treatment from generations of Labour-inclined British historians. It was not until 1977 that he received a supportive biography, when Professor David Marquand, a former Labour MP, wrote Ramsay MacDonald with the stated intention of giving MacDonald his due for his work in founding and building the Labour Party, and in trying to preserve peace in the years between the two world wars. He argued also to place MacDonald's fateful decision in 1931 in the context of the crisis of the times and the limited choices open to him. 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... David Marquand is an academic and ex-Labour Party MP. Marquands writings are broadly based upon issues surrounding British politics and social democracy. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ...

Personal life

The marriage between Ramsay MacDonald and Margaret Gladstone was a very happy one, and they had six children, including Malcolm MacDonald (1901-81), who had a prominent career as a politician, colonial governor and diplomat, and Ishbel MacDonald (1903-82), who was very close to her father. MacDonald was devastated by Margaret's death from blood poisoning in 1911, and had few significant personal relationships after that time, apart from Ishbel, who cared for him for the rest of his life. One of his mistresses was Lady Margaret Sackville. In the 1920s and '30s he was frequently entertained by the society hostess Lady Londonderry, which was much disapproved of in the Labour Party since her husband was a Conservative cabinet minister, and it was said that MacDonald was infatuated with her. Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born January 7, 1950, Fulham, England) was an English footballer always known as Supermac. Born in Fulham, London, Macdonald started out as a full back before switching to centre forward. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Born to Ramsay and Margaret MacDonald in 1903, Ishbel MacDonald was one of six children. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... Lady Margaret Sackville (1881 – 1963) was an English poet and children’s author. ... The 1920s is a decade sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Dame Edith Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry (christened Edith Helen Chaplin) (3 December 1879 – 23 April 1959) was a noted and influential society hostess in Britain between the two World Wars. ...

MacDonald's unpopularity in the country following his stance against Britain's involvement in the First World War spilled over into his private life. In 1916, he was expelled from the Moray Golf Club in Lossiemouth for supposedly bringing the club into disrepute because of his pacifist views.^[50] The manner of his expulsion was regretted by some members but an attempt to re-instate him by a vote in 1924 failed. However a Special General Meeting held in 1929 finally voted for his reinstatement. By this time, MacDonald was Prime Minister for the second time. He felt the initial expulsion very deeply and refused to take up the final offer of membership.^[51] Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Year 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Lossiemouth, is a burgh in Moray, Scotland. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

MacDonald's governments

First Labour government: January - November 1924

• 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 Jowett - First Commissioner of Works
• Thomas Shaw - Minister of Labour
• John Wheatley - Minister of Health

Second Labour government: June 1929 - August 1931 The position of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was created in the United Kingdoms governmental reorganization of 1782, in which the Northern and Southern Departments became the Home and Foreign Offices. ... The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons. ... Lord Haldane Richard Burdon Sanderson Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, (July 30, 1856 - August 19, 1928), was an important British Liberal politician, lawyer, and philosopher. ... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Leader of the House of Lords is a function in the British government that is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, most often Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy Seal or Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. ... Charles Alfred Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor KCVO PC (October 3, 1852 - June 30, British politician who switched from the Conservative to the Labour Party and was a strong supporter of the League of Nations and of Church of England causes. ... The Office of Lord President of the Council is a British cabinet position, the holder of which acts as presiding officer of the Privy Council. ... Leader of the House of Lords is a function in the British government that is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, most often Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy Seal or Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. ... Rt. ... The Lord Privy Seal or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal is one of the traditional sinecure offices in the British Cabinet. ... The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons. ... Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden (July 18, 1864 - May 15, 1937) was a British politician, and the first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer. ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British cabinet minister responsible for all financial matters. ... The Right Honourable Arthur Henderson (September 13, 1863 – October 20, 1935) was a British politician and union leader. ... The Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Home Secretary) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in England and Wales; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. ... James (Jimmy) Henry Thomas, (October 3, 1874 - January 21, 1949) was a British trade unionist and Labour politician. ... The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet official in charge of managing the various British colonies. ... Stephen Walsh (1859 - March 16, 1929) was a Labour Party MP and a member of the Lloyd George Coalition Government as a Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of National Service in 1917 and then Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board from 1917 to 1919. ... The secretary of war in cabinet position was Henry Knox. ... Sir Sydney Haldane Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier KCMG (16 April 1859 – 15 February 1943), was a British civil servant. ... The office of Secretary of State for India or India Secretary was created in 1858 when India was brought under direct British rule (British Raj). ... William Adamson (1863–1936) was born in Dunfermline, Scotland and worked as a miner in Fife where he became involved with the National Union of Mineworkers. ... The Secretary for Scotland was the former title of the chief minister in charge of the Scotland Office in the United Kingdom government. ... Christopher Birdwood Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson (13 April 1875 - 5 October India to a military family Thomson attended Cheltenham College and Sandhurst before joining the Royal Engineers in Mauritius and then saw action during the second Boer War (1899-1902). ... The Secretary of State for Air was a cabinet level British position, in charge of the Air Ministry. ... Frederic John Napier Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford, GCMG, GCSI, GCIE, GBE (12 August 1868 - 1 April 1933) was a British statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1916 to 1921. ... The First Lord of the Admiralty was a British government position in charge of the Admiralty. ... George Josiah Clement Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood (16 March 1872 - 26 July 1943) was a British Liberal and Labour politician who served in government under Ramsay MacDonald. ... The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a sinecure office in the British government. ... A self-portrait Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield PC (13 July 1859 – 13 October 1947) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, normally referred to in the same breath as his wife, Beatrice Webb. ... The President of the Board of Trade the title of a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. ... Noel Edward Noel-Buxton, 1st Baron Noel-Buxton PC (9 January 1869 – 12 September 1948) was a British Liberal and later Labour politician. ... The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. ... Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet (28 October 1870 – 24 January 1958) was Liberal Member of Parliament for Elland, Yorkshire from a by-election in 1899 until 1918, when he lost the seat running as a Labour Independent. ... The Secretary of State for Education and Skills is the chief minister of the Department for Education and Skills in the United Kingdom government. ... Vernon Hartshorn (1872-1931) was a British Labour Party politician who served on the Simon Commission and in various positions in the Labour governments of Ramsay MacDonald. ... In the United Kingdom, the Postmaster General is a now defunct ministerial position. ... Frederick William Fred Jowett (31 January 1864 - 1 February 1944) was a British Labour politician. ... The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings replaced the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests in 1851. ... Rt Hon. ... Minister of Labour re-directs here. ... John Wheatley (May 19, 1869 - May 12, 1930) was a Scottish socialist politician. ... Minister of Health redirects here. ...

• 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 John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey (26 October 1866 - 6 February 1948) was a prominent British politician, famous for the Persons Case. ... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Charles Alfred Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor KCVO PC (October 3, 1852 - June 30, British politician who switched from the Conservative to the Labour Party and was a strong supporter of the League of Nations and of Church of England causes. ... The Office of Lord President of the Council is a British cabinet position, the holder of which acts as presiding officer of the Privy Council. ... Leader of the House of Lords is a function in the British government that is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, most often Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy Seal or Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. ... James (Jimmy) Henry Thomas, (October 3, 1874 - January 21, 1949) was a British trade unionist and Labour politician. ... The Lord Privy Seal or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal is one of the traditional sinecure offices in the British Cabinet. ... Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden (July 18, 1864 - May 15, 1937) was a British politician, and the first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer. ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British cabinet minister responsible for all financial matters. ... Rt. ... The Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Home Secretary) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in England and Wales; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. ... The Right Honourable Arthur Henderson (September 13, 1863 – October 20, 1935) was a British politician and union leader. ... The position of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was created in the United Kingdoms governmental reorganization of 1782, in which the Northern and Southern Departments became the Home and Foreign Offices. ... A self-portrait Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield PC (13 July 1859 – 13 October 1947) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, normally referred to in the same breath as his wife, Beatrice Webb. ... The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet official in charge of managing the various British colonies. ... The position of Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs was a British cabinet level position created in 1925 to deal with British relations with the Dominions — Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundland, and the Irish Free State. ... Rt Hon. ... The secretary of war in cabinet position was Henry Knox. ... William Wedgwood Benn, 1st Viscount Stansgate, PC (1877 - 1960) was a British Liberal MP who later joined the Labour Party and served as Secretary of State for India in Ramsay MacDonalds second administration. ... The office of Secretary of State for India or India Secretary was created in 1858 when India was brought under direct British rule (British Raj). ... Christopher Birdwood Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson (13 April 1875 - 5 October India to a military family Thomson attended Cheltenham College and Sandhurst before joining the Royal Engineers in Mauritius and then saw action during the second Boer War (1899-1902). ... The Secretary of State for Air was a cabinet level British position, in charge of the Air Ministry. ... William Adamson (1863–1936) was born in Dunfermline, Scotland and worked as a miner in Fife where he became involved with the National Union of Mineworkers. ... The Secretary of State for Scotland (Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is the chief minister in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilites for Scotland, at the head of the Scotland Office (formerly The Scottish Office). ... 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. ... William Graham (29 July 1887-8 January 1932) was a British Labour politician. ... The President of the Board of Trade the title of a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. ... Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet (28 October 1870 – 24 January 1958) was Liberal Member of Parliament for Elland, Yorkshire from a by-election in 1899 until 1918, when he lost the seat running as a Labour Independent. ... The Secretary of State for Education and Skills is the chief minister of the Department for Education and Skills in the United Kingdom government. ... Noel Edward Noel-Buxton, 1st Baron Noel-Buxton PC (9 January 1869 – 12 September 1948) was a British Liberal and later Labour politician. ... The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. ... Margaret Grace Bondfield (17th March, 1873-16th June, 1953), an English politician and feminist was born in Chard, Somerset, the eleventh child of Anne Taylor and William Bondfield, a textiles worker with left-wing views. ... Minister of Labour re-directs here. ... Arthur Greenwood (1880—1954) became deputy leader of the Labour Party under Clement Attlee, with Winston Churchill appointing him to the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio in 1940. ... Minister of Health redirects here. ... Under a cloud (with a silver lining). ... The First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings replaced the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests in 1851. ...

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

First national government: August - November 1931 Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... Vernon Hartshorn (1872-1931) was a British Labour Party politician who served on the Simon Commission and in various positions in the Labour governments of Ramsay MacDonald. ... Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison, KG, PC (19 June 1869 - 11 December British medical doctor and politician. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... William Warrender Mackenzie, 1st Baron Amulree (1860-1942) was a British Labour, later National Labour, politician who served as Secretary of State for Air under Ramsay MacDonald. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth (January 3, 1888 - March 6, 1965) was a British Labour Party politician and cabinet minister. ... The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible for the British Department for Transport. ... Thomas Johnston CH (1882-5 September 1965) was a prominent Scottish socialist and politician of the early 20th century, a member of the Labour Party, an MP and government minister – usually with Cabinet responsibility for Scottish affairs. ...

• 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 John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey (26 October 1866 - 6 February 1948) was a prominent British politician, famous for the Persons Case. ... Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC (3 August 1867–14 December 1947) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on three separate occasions. ... Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden (July 18, 1864 - May 15, 1937) was a British politician, and the first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer. ... Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel GCB OM GBE PC (November 6, 1870 - February 2, 1963) was an Anglo-Jewish politician and diplomat. ... Rufus Daniel Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading (10 October 1860 - 30 December 1935) was a British politician and jurist. ... Leader of the House of Lords is a function in the British government that is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, most often Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy Seal or Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. ... Samuel John Gurney Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood (1880-1959), more commonly known as Sir Samuel Hoare, was a British Conservative politician who served in various capacities in the Conservative and National governments of the 1920s and 1930s. ... James (Jimmy) Henry Thomas, (October 3, 1874 - January 21, 1949) was a British trade unionist and Labour politician. ... Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Earl of Swinton, (1884-1972), known as Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame until 1924 and as The Viscount Swinton from 1935 until 1955, was a prominent British Conservative politician from the 1920s until the 1950s. ... Arthur Neville Chamberlain(18 March 1869 – 9 November 1940), known as Neville Chamberlain, was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940. ...

• 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 John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey (26 October 1866 - 6 February 1948) was a prominent British politician, famous for the Persons Case. ... Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC (3 August 1867–14 December 1947) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on three separate occasions. ... Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden (July 18, 1864 - May 15, 1937) was a British politician, and the first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer. ... Arthur Neville Chamberlain(18 March 1869 – 9 November 1940), known as Neville Chamberlain, was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940. ... Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel GCB OM GBE PC (November 6, 1870 - February 2, 1963) was an Anglo-Jewish politician and diplomat. ... The Right Honourable John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon (1873-1954) was a British politician and statesman. ... Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Earl of Swinton, (1884-1972), known as Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame until 1924 and as The Viscount Swinton from 1935 until 1955, was a prominent British Conservative politician from the 1920s until the 1950s. ... James (Jimmy) Henry Thomas, (October 3, 1874 - January 21, 1949) was a British trade unionist and Labour politician. ... Douglas McGarel Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham was a British lawyer and politician. ... Leader of the House of Lords is a function in the British government that is always held in combination with a formal Cabinet position, most often Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy Seal or Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. ... Samuel John Gurney Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood (1880-1959), more commonly known as Sir Samuel Hoare, was a British Conservative politician who served in various capacities in the Conservative and National governments of the 1920s and 1930s. ... The Most Honourable Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry (1878-1949) had careers in both Irish and British politics. ... Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso KT CMG PC (October 22, 1890 – June 15, 1970), known as Sir Archibald Sinclair from 1912 until 1952, was a Scottish politician and leader of the British Liberal Party. ... The Secretary of State for Scotland (Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is the chief minister in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilites for Scotland, at the head of the Scotland Office (formerly The Scottish Office). ... Bolton Meredith Eyres-Monsell, 1st Viscount Monsell, PC (1881-1969) was a British Conservative politician who served as Chief Whip until 1931 and then as First Lord of the Admiralty. ... Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford (1870-1949) was a prominent Liberal, later National Liberal politician in the United Kingdom from the 1900s until the 1930s. ... The Right Honourable Sir John Gilmour, 2nd Baronet, Bart. ... Sir Donald Maclean (January 9, 1864 – June 15, 1932), was a Liberal politician in the United Kingdom. ... Henry Bucknall Betterton, 1st Baron Rushcliffe was a British Conservative politician who served as Minister of Labour from 1931 until 1934. ... Edward Hilton Young, 1st Baron Kennet (1879-1960), was a British politician and writer. ... William George Arthur Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech (born April 11, 1885, London; died February 14, 1964, London), British Conservative politician and banker. ...

• September 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.
• December 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.
• June 1934 - Oliver Stanley succeeds Sir H. Betterton as Minister of Labour

Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Sir Godfrey Pattison Collins (June 26, 1875 - October 13, 1936) was a Scottish National Liberal politician. ... // Walter Elliot Elliot 1 (1888 – 1958) was a prominent Scottish Unionist Party politician in the interwar years. ... Cover of Time Magazine April 12, 1926 Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, known as Lord Irwin from 1926 until 1934, (1881-1959) was a British Conservative politician. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Sir Howard Kingsley Wood (19 August 1891 - 21 September 1943) was a Conservative British politician. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Oliver Frederick George Stanley (1896-1950) was a prominent British Conservative politician who held many ministerial posts before his early death when it was assumed he would soon assume higher office. ...

Notes

Further reading

• Jane Cox, A Singular Marriage: a Labour Love Story in Letters and Diaries (of Ramsay and Margaret MacDonald), Harrap, London 1988
• Lord Elton, The Life of James Ramsay MacDonald 1939
• Bernard Barker (editor), Ramsay MacDonald's Political Writings, Allen Lane, London 1972
• David Marquand, Ramsay MacDonald, Jonathan Cape, London 1977
• Greg Rosen (ed), Dictionary of Labour Biography. Politicos Publishing, London, 2001. ISBN:1188
• Greg Rosen, Old Labour to New, Politicos Publishing, London 2005.
• Ramsay MacDonald, The Socialist Movement, 1911
• Ramsay MacDonald, Labour and Peace, Labour Party 1912
• Ramsay MacDonald, Parliament and Revolution, Labour Party 1919
• Ramsay MacDonald, Foreign Policy of the Labour Party, Labour Party 1923
• Ramsay MacDonald, Margaret Ethel MacDonald, 1924
• McConnachie, John: The Moray Golf Club at Lossiemouth, 1988. ISBN:

Jane Cox is an English actress well known for her part in ITVs Emmerdale as farmer Lisa Dingle. ... David Marquand is an academic and ex-Labour Party MP. Marquands writings are broadly based upon issues surrounding British politics and social democracy. ...

External links

• a left-wing criticism of Macdonald's career

Political offices