First Labour Government (UK)

The first Labour government of the United Kingdom lasted from January to November 1924. The Labour Party, under James Ramsay MacDonald, had won the general election of December 1923, winning 151 seats, although the Conservative government under Stanley Baldwin was not dissolved immediately since Labour did not possess a majority and was not the largest party in the House of Commons.

The Conservatives had won the previous general election held in 1922 shortly after the fall of the Lloyd George Coalition when, along with their Unionist allies, they had won 344 seats. This seemed a significant enough majority to expect a full-parliamentary term. Nevertheless, shortly after the election the Conservative leader Andrew Bonar Law died, and was replaced by Baldwin, who reneged on his predecessor's electoral pledge not to introduce protective tariffs. As such, Baldwin sought a fresh mandate from the electorate in 1923. The result was decisive against protectionism and it was clear the Conservatives had lost, despite remaining the largest party. Baldwin had little chance of remaining prime minister when the balance of power was held by the Liberal Party under H. H. Asquith, who had campaigned vigorously for free trade, to the point of healing the rift that existed between the Asquith and Lloyd George factions. Baldwin advised the King to send for MacDonald, since the Labour Party held more seats in the Commons than the Liberals. MacDonald accepted the King's commission later that day, arriving with his Labour colleagues, to the amusement of many and dismay of others, in full court dress.

MacDonald and the Cabinet

MacDonald had become Labour's first proper leader in 1922. To become prime minister in two years was a remarkable achievement. As well as Prime Minister, he became his own Foreign Secretary, a double role which he performed well enough but which alienated the second man in the party, Arthur Henderson, who became Home Secretary. Philip Snowden, the evangelical ex-member of the Independent Labour Party (ILP) became a rigidly orthodox Chancellor of the Exchequer, while the next two prominent members of the party, Jimmy Thomas and J. R. Clynes, became Colonial Secretary and Lord Privy Seal respectively. The Fabian Sidney Webb, who had, along with Henderson, been instrumental in conceiving Labour's 1918 programme 'Labour and the New Social Order' which had committed the party to nationalisation (Clause IV) was appointed President of the Board of Trade; another Fabian, Lord Olivier, became Secretary of State for India. A former chairman of the parliamentary party, Willie Adamson, became Scottish Secretary while left-wingers Fred Jowett and John Wheatley became, respectively, First Commissioner of Works and Minister of Health.

The Cabinet was characterised by a moderate trade union feel, although it also contained a few Liberals. Only three members had previously been ministers (two only briefly): Richard Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane (ex-Liberal), Arthur Henderson and J. R. Clynes; though others had been under-secretaries.

Achievements

The main achievement of the government was that it showed itself to be 'fit to govern'. Although this might not have meant much in terms of concrete policy-making, it at least did not alarm voters who may have feared that the party would dismantle the country and promulgate 'socialism'; although, in any case, its tenuous parliamentary position would have made radical moves near impossible. Hence, Labour policies such as nationalisation, the 'capital levy' taxation and public works programmes to alleviate unemployment were either played down or ignored altogether. However, to act 'respectably', as any other government would have, was a major component of the MacDonald electoral appeal and strategy. Indeed, some historians have seen in this time an electoral consensus that existed between MacDonald and his Conservative counterpart Baldwin to maintain the stability of the electoral system and preclude any radicalism that might have alienated voters or exacerbated crises such as unemployment. By 1929 voters felt able to trust Labour and thus they were voted back in again.

The main achievement of this government was the 1924 Wheatley Housing Act, which MacDonald dubbed 'our most important legislative item'.Fact|date=February 2007 It went a way towards rectifying the problem of the housing shortage caused by the disruption of the building trade during the First World War and the inability of working-class tenants to rent decent, affordable housing. Wheately was able to provide public housing to council tenants, as against the previous government's commitment to privatisation.

The fall of the government

Apart from this there was little concrete achievement. Foreign policy encompassed attempting to improve relations with the Soviet Union, but success here was modest and ultimately proved the government's undoing, as Conservative's critics were quick to point out any 'Red' (Soviet) influence in Britain. One example of this was the 'Campbell Case'. The Communist J.R Campbell had been prosecuted by the government for publishing an article calling on troops not to fire on strikers. When Labour withdrew the prosecution, it was seen by many as a 'red' influence on the leadership. Herbert Asquith, the Leader of the Liberal Party called for the appointment of a committee of enquiry as this would allow Labour time to survive the scandal, but MacDonald would not allow it. He said that if MPs voted in favour of the enquiry then the government would resign. They consequently voted for the enquiry with a large majority, so MacDonald announced that the Labour government would resign after only nine months in office. Soon after this resignation, came the emergence of the Zinoviev letter, which has become part of Labour party mythology. The 'Daily Mail' published a letter apparently written by Zinoviev, the head of the Communist International (Comintern), which asked supporters to prepare for imminent revolution. It is now known that the Zinoviev letter was a fake, but it scarcely helped Labour during their election campaign. However, ultimately the government fell because it ran out of steam: there was bankruptcy in terms of policy, many leaders were faltering and, in particular, the Liberals were becoming increasingly restive about continuing to support the government. MacDonald's inability to delegate tasks to subordinates was also a factor in Labour's demise. He had taken the position of Foreign Secretary as well as Prime Minister and by the end of the nine months it seemed as if MacDonald had wanted to give up power through fatigue. He once wrote in his diary that he worked from '7am to 1am, with occasional extras'. However, ultimately the first Labour government showed that Labour was 'fit to govern' and it returned to office five years later.

See also

*Labour Government 1924