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Ramsay Macdonald
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{{Infobox PM
| name=
Right Honourable The Rt Hon Ramsay MacDonald
| image=Ramsaymacdonald03.jpg
| country=the United Kingdom
| term=
22 January,
1924 –
4 November,
19245 June,
1929 –
7 June,
1935
| before=
Stanley Baldwin
| after=
Stanley Baldwin
| date_birth=
12 October 1866
| place_birth=
Lossiemouth,
Moray
| date_death=
9 November 1937
| place_death=The
Atlantic Ocean, on holiday
aboard the
liner ''
Reina del Pacifico''
| party=
Labour Party (UK) Labour
}}
'''James Ramsay MacDonald''' (
12 October 1866–
9 November 1937) was a
United Kingdom British politician and twice
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. One of the pioneers of British
socialism, he rose from humble origins to become the first
Labour Party (UK) Labour Prime Minister in
1924. During his second government, faced with the crisis of the
Great Depression, he formed a "
UK National Government National Government" in coalition with the
British Conservative Party Conservatives and was expelled from the Labour Party.
Early career
MacDonald was born in
Lossiemouth, in
Moray in northern
Scotland, the illegitimate son of John MacDonald, a farm labourer, and Anne Ramsay, a housemaid. At first known as James Ramsay, he later adopted his father's surname and used Ramsay as his preferred given name. Illegitimacy was a serious handicap in 19th century
Presbyterian Scotland, and the associated stigma affected MacDonald throughout his life. He received an elementary education at the
Free Church of Scotland school in Lossiemouth, and at the local school in the nearby town of
Drainie (1875-1881). He worked there as a pupil teacher until he was 18, when he left for
London,
England. For the remainder of his life he had little affection for Scotland or Scottish attitudes.
Working as a clerk in London, MacDonald furthered his education through night classes and incessant reading, particularly in science, economics and social issues. In
1894 he joined the
Independent Labour Party (ILP), one of the earliest socialist parties in Britain, and began writing for socialist papers. He met and was heavily influenced by
Keir Hardie, one of the first Labour Members of Parliament. He stood for Parliament for the first time in
1895, and again in
1900. In that year he became Secretary of the
Labour Representation Committee, the forerunner of the Labour Party, while retaining his membership of the ILP. The ILP, while not a
Marxism Marxist party, was more rigorously socialist than the Labour Party, and ILP members operated as a "
ginger group" within Labour for many years.
As Party Secretary, MacDonald negotiated an agreement with the leading
British Liberal Party Liberal politician
Herbert Gladstone (son of the late Prime Minister
William Gladstone), which allowed Labour to contest a number of working-class seats without Liberal opposition, thus giving Labour its first breakthrough into the
British House of Commons House of Commons. His closeness to Gladstone was helped by his marriage in
1896 to
Margaret Gladstone, a distant cousin of Herbert's. During this period he also travelled widely: to
Canada and the
United States in
1897, to
South Africa in
1902, to
Australia and
New Zealand in
1906 and to
India several times.
In
1906 MacDonald was elected MP for
Leicester, and became one of the leaders of the Parliamentary Labour Party, which at this time was a minor party supporting the Liberal governments of
Henry Campbell-Bannerman and
Henry Asquith. MacDonald, despite his links to the Gladstonian Liberals, became the leader of the left wing of the party, arguing that Labour must seek to displace the Liberals as the main progressive party.
Party leader
In
1911 MacDonald became Party Leader (formally "Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party"), but in
1914 he adopted a position of opposition to British involvement in
World War I. The party majority, led by
Arthur Henderson, refused to support this stand, and MacDonald resigned as Leader. During the early part of the war he was extremely unpopular and was accused of treason and cowardice, but as the war dragged on his reputation recovered. Nevertheless he lost his seat in the
1918 "
United Kingdom general election, 1918 khaki election", which saw the
David Lloyd George coalition government win a huge majority.
In
1922 MacDonald returned to the House as MP for
Aberavon (UK Parliament constituency) Aberavon in
Wales. By now the party was reunited and MacDonald was re-elected as Leader. The Liberals 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 left and abandoned the rigorous 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
Social Democratic Party of Germany German SPD, the Labour Party did not split and the
Communist Party of Great Britain remained small and isolated.
Although he was a gifted speaker, MacDonald became noted for "woolly" rhetoric, and 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 George V of the United Kingdom 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 (and some would say last) from a working class background and one of the very few not to have had a university education.
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
John Robert Clynes 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.
MacDonald took the decision in March to end construction work on the
Singapore military base. 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. These were great achievements for a neophyte minority Prime Minister, and MacDonald was widely praised. In September he put a plan for general European
disarmament to the
League of Nations Assembly in
Geneva.
Initially, MacDonald's government came under pressure from the Conservatives and Liberals after it proposed extending diplomatic recognition to the
Soviet Union. 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
Motion of Confidence 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. (It is argued that MacDonald expected Labour to be defeated, his objective being to eradicate the Liberals and create a
two-party system composed of Labour and Conservative. This objective was somewhat achieved in the October
1924 election. Labour fell from 191 seats to 151, but the Liberals fell from 158 to 40.)
Second government
Baldwin formed a strong majority Conservative government, but it was racked by crisis throughout its term, particularly the
General Strike of
1926 and the sharply deteriorating economic situation, marked by a rapid rise in
unemployment. At the May
1929 election, Labour won 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 (UK Parliament constituency) 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.
James Henry Thomas J.H. Thomas became Lord Privy Seal with a mandate to tackle unemployment, assisted by the young radical
Oswald Mosley.
MacDonald's second government was in a stronger parliamentary position than his first, and during
1930 he was able to pass a revised Old Age Pensions Act, a more generous Unemployment Insurance Act and an act to improve wages and conditions in the coal industry, which had been the issues behind the General Strike. He also convened a conference in London with the leaders of the
Indian National Congress, at which he offered
responsible government, but not independence, to India. In April
1930 he negotiated a treaty limiting naval armaments with the United States and Japan.
Like all governments of the time, MacDonald's government had no effective response to the economic crisis which followed the
Wall Street Crash 1929 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 pleadings of Mosley, Lloyd George and the economist
John Maynard Keynes. Even if the government had proposed such measures, the Conservatives and the more conservative Liberals (let alone the
House of Lords) would not have supported them.
During
1931 the economic situation deteriorated, and pressure from orthodox economists and the press for sharp cuts in government spending, including pensions and unemployment benefits, increased. MacDonald, Snowden and Thomas supported such measures, as necessary to maintain a balanced budget and to prevent a run on the pound, but the 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 in the cuts. On
August 24 1931 MacDonald submitted his resignation and then agreed to form a
UK National Government 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 (UK 1930s) National Labour Party, but this had little support in the country or the unions.
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, 35 National Labour, 32 Liberals 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 a prisoner of the Conservatives, as was shown after the election when
Neville Chamberlain became Chancellor and Baldwin, as
Lord President of the Council Lord President, the real power in the government. MacDonald was deeply affected by the anger and bitterness caused by the fall of the Labour government. He continued to regard himself as a socialist and a true Labour man, but the rupturing of virtually all his old friendships left him an isolated figure.
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: he was later seen as the father of
appeasement. 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 (constituency) 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.
MacDonald's defection from Labour and his alliance with the Conservatives, as well as the decline in his powers as Prime Minister after
1931, left him a discredited figure at the time of his death, and he received rough treatment from generations of Labour-inclined British historians. It was not until
1977 that he received a sympathetic biography, when Professor
David Marquand 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 tried 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.
Personal life
The marriage between Ramsay MacDonald and Margaret Gladstone was a very happy one, and they had six children, including
Malcolm MacDonald (
1901-
1981 81), who had a prominent career as a politician, colonial governor and diplomat, and
Ishbel MacDonald (
1903-
1982 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. In the
1920s and
1930s '30s he was frequently entertained by the society hostess
Edith Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry 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.
MacDonald's Governments
'''First Labour government: January - November 1924'''
*Ramsay MacDonald - Prime Minister,
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Foreign Secretary and
Leader of the House of Commons
*
Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane Lord Haldane -
Lord Chancellor and joint
Leader of the House of Lords
*
Charles Alfred Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor 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, 1st Viscount Snowden Philip Snowden -
Chancellor of the Exchequer
*
Arthur Henderson -
Secretary of State for the Home Department Home Secretary
*
James Henry Thomas -
Secretary of State for the Colonies
*
Stephen Walsh -
Secretary of State for War
*
Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier Sir Sydney Olivier -
Secretary of State for India
*
William Adamson -
Secretary for Scotland
*
Christopher Birdwood Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson Lord Thomson -
Secretary of State for Air Secretary for Air
*
Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford Lord Chelmsford -
First Lord of the Admiralty
*
Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood -
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
*
Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield Sidney Webb -
President of the Board of Trade
*
Noel Buxton -
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister of Agriculture
*
Charles Philips Trevelyan -
President of the Board of Education
*
Vernon Hartshorn -
United Kingdom Postmaster General Postmaster-General
*
Frederick William Jowet -
First Commissioner of Works
*
Thomas Shaw -
Secretary of State for Employment Minister of Labour
*
John Wheatley -
Secretary of State for Health Minister of Health
'''Second Labour government: June 1929 - August 1931'''
*Ramsay MacDonald - Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
*
John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey Lord Sankey -
Lord Chancellor
*
Charles Alfred Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor Lord Parmoor -
Lord President of the Council and
Leader of the House of Lords
*
James Henry Thomas J.H. Thomas -
Lord Privy Seal
*
Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden Philip Snowden -
Chancellor of the Exchequer
*
John Robert Clynes J.R. Clynes -
Secretary of State for the Home Department Home Secretary
*
Arthur Henderson -
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Foreign Secretary
*
Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield 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, 1st Viscount Stansgate William Wedgwood Benn -
Secretary of State for India
*
Christopher Birdwood Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson Lord Thomson -
Secretary of State for Air
*
William Adamson -
Secretary of State for Scotland
*
A. V. Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough A. V. Alexander -
First Lord of the Admiralty
*
William Graham (UK politician) William Graham -
President of the Board of Trade
*Sir
Charles Philips Trevelyan -
President of the Board of Education
*
Noel Buxton, 1st Baron Noel-Buxton Noel Buxton -
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister of Agriculture
*
Margaret Bondfield -
Secretary of State for Employment Minister of Labour
*
Arthur Greenwood -
Secretary of State for Health Minister of Health
*
George Lansbury -
First Commissioner of Works
'''Changes'''
*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, 1st Viscount Addison Christopher Addison succeeds Noel Buxton as Minister of Agriculture.
*October
1930 -
William Warrender Mackenzie, 1st Baron Amulree 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 (politician) Herbert Morrison enters the cabinet as
Secretary of State for Transport Minister of Transport.
Thomas Johnston succeeds Hartshorn as Lord Privy Seal.
'''First national government: August - November 1931'''
*Ramsay MacDonald - Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
*
John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey Lord Sankey - Lord Chancellor
*
Stanley Baldwin - Lord President
*
Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden Philip Snowden - Chancellor of the Exchequer
*Sir
Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel Herbert Samuel - Home Secretary
*
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading Lord Reading - Foreign Secretary and
Leader of the House of Lords
*Sir
Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood Samuel Hoare - Secretary for India
*
James Henry Thomas J.H. Thomas - Dominions Secretary and Colonial Secretary
*Sir
Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Earl of Swinton Philip Cunliffe-Lister - President of the Board of Trade
*
Neville Chamberlain - Minister of Health
'''Second national government: November 1931 - May 1935'''
*Ramsay MacDonald - Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
*
John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey Lord Sankey - Lord Chancellor
*
Stanley Baldwin - Lord President
*
Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden Lord Snowden - Lord Privy Seal
*
Neville Chamberlain - Chancellor of the Exchequer
*Sir
Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel Herbert Samuel - Home Secretary
*Sir
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon John Simon - Foreign Secretary
*Sir
Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Earl of Swinton Philip Cunliffe-Lister - Colonial Secretary
*
James Henry Thomas J.H. Thomas - Dominions Secretary
*
Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham Lord Hailsham - Secretary of State for War and
Leader of the House of Lords
*Sir
Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood Samuel Hoare - Secretary of State for India
*
Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry Lord Londonderry - Secretary for Air
*
Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso Sir Archibald Sinclair -
Secretary of State for Scotland
*Sir
Bolton Eyres-Monsell, 1st Viscount Monsell B. Eyres-Monsell - First Lord of the Admiralty
*
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford Walter Runciman - President of the Board of Trade
*Sir
John Gilmour - Minister of Agriculture
*Sir
Donald Maclean D. Maclean - President of the Board of Education
*Sir
Henry Betterton, 1st Baron Rushcliffe Henry Betterton - Minister of Labour
*Sir
Edward Hilton Young, 1st Baron Kennet E. Hilton-Young - Minister of Health
*
William Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech William Ormsby-Gore - First Commissioner of Works
'''Changes'''
*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.
Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax 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.
See also
*
List of illegitimates
Further reading
*
Bernard Barker (author) Bernard Barker (editor), ''Ramsay MacDonald's Political Writings'', Allen Lane, London 1972
*
David Marquand, ''Ramsay MacDonald'', Jonathan Cape, London 1977
*
Jane Cox, ''A Singular Marriage: a Labour Love Story in Letters and Diaries'' (of Ramsay and Margaret MacDonald), Harrap, London 1988
*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
{{start box}}
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{{end box}}
{{UKPrimeMinisters}}
{{UK Labour Party Leaders}}
Category:1866 births Macdonald, Ramsay
Category:1937 deaths Macdonald, Ramsay
Category:British MPs Macdonald, Ramsay
Category:British Secretaries of State Macdonald, Ramsay
Category:Leaders of the British Labour Party Macdonald, Ramsay
Category:Lord Presidents of the Council Macdonald, Ramsay
Category:Members of the Privy Council MacDonald, Ramsay
Category:Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada MacDonald, Ramsay
Category:Natives of Moray Macdonald, Ramsay
Category:Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom Macdonald, Ramsay
Category:Scottish politicians Macdonald, Ramsay
bg:Рамзи Макдоналд
cy:James Ramsay MacDonald
de:Ramsay MacDonald
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fr:Ramsay MacDonald
it:Ramsay MacDonald
lt:Ramsis Makdonaldas
nl:Ramsay MacDonald
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Ramsay MacDonald
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