First Labour Government

First Labour Government 1924

General election 1922

Labour replaced Liberals as opposition
Won 142 seats, Asquith Liberals 62 and Lloyd George Liberals 54
Conservatives won majority with 345 seats
Conservatives didn’t last long as Bonar Law resigned through ill health
Stanley Baldwin became Prime Minister and decided another general election was needed
Baldwin decided Joseph Chamberlain’s tariff reform was right and decided to give the voters a chance to vote on the matter
Asquith temporarily reunited the Liberals and worked alongside Labour to argue that free trade and foreign imports would reduce the cost of living for the working class
Conservatives won 258, Labour 191 and Liberals 159
This was further confirmation that Labour had replaced the Liberals as opposition

Formation of Labour Government

When the election results were announced no one knew what would happen
Conservatives could not stay in office as although they were largest party they had lost majority
Both Labour and Liberals could vote against Conservative bill and reject legislation
Conservatives wanted a government of national unity with the Liberals
The Conservative leader Baldwin was happy for a Labour government to go ahead
He knew if the Labour government tried anything unacceptable then the Conservatives and Liberals could easily reject and vote Labour out
Asquith offered Liberal support for a Labour government
Baldwin encouraged him, as he knew this would outrage right wing Liberals like Winston Churchill and push them to join the Tories
James Ramsay MacDonald became first Labour Prime Minister

Problems facing Labour government

Both were minority government dependent on Liberal support
Had to pursue moderate policies and unable to introduce nationalisation and disarmament
Policies were little different to those of the Liberals
Had difficulty in projecting the party as a national party when had always been the party of the working class
Close ties to trade unions left business men, factory owners and people of land and property fearful of nationalisation and trade union action
Labour could not break ties with trade unions as needed funds
In return the unions expected to be able to control the party
Trade unions were critical of the ‘half-measures’ and lack of action undertaken by the Labour government and made no allowance for the need of Liberal support
Both government had difficult economic times
1924 1 million unemployed
1931 world economic crisis after Wall St. Crash
Met by fledgling party unable to find any solution other than nationalisation
This would have been rejected in the Commons
Left wing of party wanted to seek nationalisation if only to appeal to electorate in future election
Hoped could gain majority if appealed to working class
MacDonald believed would gain more support through initiating moderate policies rather than seeking a revolution of British politics

Successes of Labour Government

Social reforms

Wheatley’s housing act – provided £9 million a year for building council houses
500,000 houses built over next 10 years as a result of scheme
Old Age Pensions and unemployment benefits were increased
Number of free places in grammar schools was increased and state scholarship to university was reintroduced
Sir Henry Hadow appointed to assess needs of education
Hadow Report important milestone in English education
Introduced break between primary and secondary education at 11
Recognised principle that whole population entitled to some secondary education
£28 million allocated to public work schemes
Taxes cut on basic foods such as tea, sugar, coffee and cocoa

Foreign affairs

MacDonald acted as Foreign secretary as well as Prime Minister
Felt it was essential to improve German and French relations, which had deteriorated greatly since the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923
MacDonald was largely responsible for the Dawes plan 1924
Solved the problem of the Ruhr
MacDonald gave full diplomatic recognition to the Soviet regime in Russia
Signed a trade treaty developing trade links

Franco-German relations

Solved problem of Franco-German relations for long time
French occupation of Ruhr produced inflation and collapsed currency
MacDonald invited Herriot (French PM) and Stresemann (German Foreign Minister) to a conference in London
Persuaded USA to attend as well – sent General Dawes as representative
He chaired proceedings for some of the time
No change in total reparations but Germany to pay what she could afford
Given loan of 800 million gold marks, mainly from USA
France assured of some reparations so evacuated troops from Ruhr
German economy recovered and international tension eased
MacDonald lucky – Poincare had fallen; Herriot (his successor) wanted reconciliation

Russia

League of Nations

Fall of Government

Campbell Case – editor of Workers’ weekly wrote article urging soldiers not to fire on fellow workers during strikes
Campbell arrested and charged with incitement to mutiny
Labour attorney-general withdrew prosecution
Conservatives and Liberals, already concerned with MacDonald relations with Russia, accused government of being sympathetic to communism
Liberals demanded an enquiry into the matter in the Commons and was passed 362 to 198
MacDonald saw this as a vote of no confidence and resigned
The following election was complicated by the Zinoviev letter
Appeared in Daily Mail 4 days before polling
Claimed to be from Russian Communist leader containing instructions on how to organise revolution
Caused huge controversy and was taken to show Labour sympathy towards Russia was encouraging communism in Britain
Labour dropped to 151 seats while the Liberals were finally finished as a major party with 40 seats
Conservatives won majority of 419

Significance of Labour Government

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