Editing Ramsay MacDonald (section)

== Prime Minister (1929–1935)<span class="anchor" id="Second premiership"></span><!-- linked from redirects [[Second premiership of Ramsay MacDonald]], [[Second prime ministership of Ramsay MacDonald]] --> ==
{{Further|Second MacDonald ministry}}

=== Second term (1929–1931) ===
The strong majority held by the Conservatives gave Baldwin a full term during which the government had to deal with the [[1926 General Strike]]. Unemployment remained high but relatively stable at just over 10% and, apart from 1926, strikes were at a low level.<ref>"A Century of Change: Trends in UK statistics since 1900," Research Paper 99/111, 1999, House of Commons Library</ref> At the [[1929 United Kingdom general election|May 1929 election]], Labour won 288 seats to the Conservatives' 260, with 59 Liberals under Lloyd George holding the balance of power. MacDonald was increasingly out of touch with his supposedly safe Welsh seat at [[Aberavon (UK Parliament constituency)|Aberavon]]; he largely ignored the district, and had little time or energy to help with its increasingly difficult problems regarding coal disputes, strikes, unemployment and poverty. The miners expected a wealthy man who would fund party operations, but he had no money. He disagreed with the increasingly radical activism of party leaders in the district, as well as the permanent agent, and the [[Mineworkers' Federation of Great Britain|South Wales Mineworkers' Federation]]. He moved to [[Seaham (UK Parliament constituency)|Seaham Harbour]] in [[County Durham]], a safer seat, to avoid a highly embarrassing defeat.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mr. W. G. Covr, M.P., May Not Stand Again at Wellingborough |work=Northampton Mercury |date=17 August 1928 |access-date=25 October 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000317/19280817/003/0001| via = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>Chris Howard, "Ramsay MacDonald and Aberavon, 1922–29," ''Llafur: Journal of Welsh Labour History'' 7#1 (1996) pp. 68–77</ref>

[[File:MacDonald at Tomb of Unknown Soldier-edit.jpg|thumb|MacDonald at Tomb of Unknown Soldier, Washington, DC, 9 October 1929]]

Baldwin resigned and MacDonald again formed a minority government, with intermittent Liberal support. This time, MacDonald knew he had to concentrate on domestic matters. [[Arthur Henderson]] became Foreign Secretary, with Snowden again at the Exchequer. [[James Henry Thomas|JH Thomas]] became Lord Privy Seal with a mandate to tackle unemployment, assisted by the young radical [[Oswald Mosley]]. [[Margaret Bondfield]] was appointed as [[Secretary of State for Employment|Minister of Labour]], becoming the first-ever woman cabinet minister.<ref>John Shepherd, ''The Second Labour Government: A reappraisal'' (2012).</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The New Ministry |work=Hartlepool Mail |date=8 June 1929 |access-date=25 October 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000378/19290608/144/0007| via = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

MacDonald's second government was in a stronger parliamentary position than his first, and was able to introduce a number of progressive reforms.<ref name=" babel.hathitrust.org/">{{cite book |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c054891167&seq=1|title=The record of the second Labour government [1929-1931]|date=1935 |publisher=The Labour Party |via=Babel Hathi Trust}}</ref> In 1930, for instance, it was able to raise [[Unemployment benefits|unemployment pay]], pass an act to improve wages and conditions in the [[Coal mining in the United Kingdom|coal industry]] (i.e. the issues behind the [[1926 United Kingdom general strike|General Strike]]) and pass the [[Housing Act 1930]] which focused on [[Slum clearance in the United Kingdom|slum clearance]]s. However, an attempt by the Education Minister [[Sir Charles Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet|Charles Trevelyan]] to introduce an act to raise the school-leaving age to 15 was defeated by opposition from [[Roman Catholic]] Labour MPs, who feared that the costs would lead to increasing local authority control over faith schools.<ref name="MacDonald"/>

In international affairs, he also convened the [[Round Table Conferences (India)|Round Table conferences]] in London with the political leaders of India, at which he offered them [[responsible government]], but not [[independence]] or even [[Dominion]] status. In April 1930 he negotiated the [[London Naval Treaty]], limiting naval armaments, with France, Italy, Japan, and the United States.<ref name="MacDonald"/>

[[Image:Ramsay MacDonald ggbain.37952.jpg|thumb|upright|left|MacDonald {{c.|1929}}]]

=== Great Depression ===
{{Main|Great Depression in the United Kingdom}}
MacDonald's government had no effective response to the economic crisis which followed the [[Stock Market Crash of 1929]]. [[Philip Snowden]] was a rigid exponent of orthodox finance and would not permit any [[Deficit spending#Government deficits|deficit spending]] to stimulate the economy, despite the urgings of [[Oswald Mosley]], [[David Lloyd George]] and the economist [[John Maynard Keynes]]. Mosley put forward a [[Oswald Mosley#Mosley Memorandum|memorandum]] in January 1930, calling for the public control of imports and banking as well as an increase in pensions to boost spending power. When this was repeatedly turned down, Mosley resigned from the government in February 1931 and formed the [[New Party (UK)|New Party]]. He later converted to [[fascism]].

By the end of 1930, unemployment had doubled to over two and a half million.<ref name="To Build A New Jerusalem">Davies, A.J. (1996) ''To Build A New Jerusalem: The British Labour Party from Keir Hardie to Tony Blair'', Abacus, {{ISBN|0349108099}}</ref> The government struggled to cope with the crisis and found itself attempting to reconcile two contradictory aims: achieving a [[balanced budget]] to maintain [[Pound sterling|sterling]] on the [[gold standard]], and maintaining assistance to the poor and unemployed, at a time when tax revenues were falling. During 1931, the economic situation deteriorated, and pressure from orthodox economists for sharp cuts in government spending increased. Under pressure from its Liberal allies, as well as the Conservative opposition who feared that the budget was unbalanced, Snowden appointed a committee headed by Sir [[George May, 1st Baron May|George May]] to review the state of public finances. The [[May Report]] of July 1931, urged large public-sector wage cuts and large cuts in public spending, notably in payments to the unemployed, to avoid a budget deficit.<ref>[[C. L. Mowat]], ''Britain between the Wars, 1918–1940'' (1955) pp. 379–401</ref>

=== National government (1931–1935) ===
{{Further|National Government (1931)}}

==== Formation of the National Government ====
Although there was a narrow majority in the Cabinet for drastic reductions in spending, the minority included senior ministers such as [[Arthur Henderson]] who made it clear they would resign rather than acquiesce in the cuts. With this unworkable split, on 24 August 1931, MacDonald submitted his resignation and then agreed, on the urging of King [[George V]], to form a [[National Government (United Kingdom)|National Government]] with the Conservatives and Liberals. With Henderson taking the lead, MacDonald, Snowden, and Thomas were quickly expelled from the Labour Party.<ref>Andrew Thorpe, "Arthur Henderson and the British political crisis of 1931." ''Historical Journal'' 31#1 (1988): 117–139.</ref> They responded by forming a new [[National Labour Organisation]], which provided a nominal party base for the expelled MPs, but received little support in the country or the unions. Great anger in the labour movement greeted MacDonald's move. Riots took place in protest in [[Glasgow]] and [[Manchester]]. Many in the Labour Party viewed this as a cynical move by MacDonald to rescue his career, and accused him of 'betrayal'. MacDonald, however, argued that the sacrifice was for the common good.<ref>[[Martin Pugh (author)|Martin Pugh]] ''[[Speak for Britain!: A New History of the Labour Party]]'' (2010) pp. 212–216</ref><ref>Reginald Bassett, ''1931 Political Crisis'' (MacMillan, 1958) defends MacDonald.</ref>

==== 1931 general election ====
In the [[1931 United Kingdom general election|1931 general election]], the National Government won 554 seats, comprising 473 Conservatives, 13 National Labour, 68 Liberals ([[National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)|Liberal National]] and Liberal) and various others, while Labour, now led by Arthur Henderson won only 52 and the [[Independent Liberals (UK, 1931)|Lloyd George Liberals]] four.  Henderson and his deputy [[J. R. Clynes]] both lost their seats in Labour's worst-ever rout. Labour's disastrous performance at the 1931 election greatly increased the bitterness felt by MacDonald's former colleagues towards him. MacDonald was genuinely upset to see the Labour Party so badly defeated at the election. He had regarded the National Government as a temporary measure, and had hoped to return to the Labour Party.<ref name="To Build A New Jerusalem"/>

=== Premiership of the National Government (1931–1935) ===
{{Further|National Government (1931–1935)}}
The National Government's huge majority left MacDonald with the largest mandate ever won by a British Prime Minister at a democratic election, but MacDonald had only a small following of National Labour men in Parliament. He was ageing rapidly, and was increasingly a figurehead. In control of domestic policy were Conservatives [[Stanley Baldwin]] as Lord President and [[Neville Chamberlain]] the chancellor of the exchequer, together with [[National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)|National Liberal]] [[Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford|Walter Runciman]] at the [[Board of Trade]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Harford Montgomery Hyde|title=Baldwin; the unexpected Prime Minister|url=https://archive.org/details/baldwinunexpecte0000hyde|url-access=registration|year=1973|publisher=Hart-Davis MacGibbon|page=[https://archive.org/details/baldwinunexpecte0000hyde/page/345 345]|isbn=978-0246640932 }}</ref> MacDonald, Chamberlain and Runciman devised a compromise tariff policy, which stopped short of protectionism while ending free trade and, at the [[British Empire Economic Conference|1932 Ottawa Conference]], cementing commercial relations within the Commonwealth.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Wrench | first1 = David | year = 2000 | title = 'Very Peculiar Circumstances': Walter Runciman and the National Government, 1931–3 | journal = Twentieth Century British History | volume = 11 | issue = 1| pages = 61–82 | doi=10.1093/tcbh/11.1.61}}</ref>

Besides his preference for a cohesive British Empire and a [[protective tariff]], he felt an independent British defence programme would be the wisest policy. However, budget pressures and a strong popular pacifist sentiment forced a reduction in the military and naval budgets.{{sfn|Taylor|1965|pp=359–370}} MacDonald involved himself heavily in foreign policy.  Assisted by the National Liberal leader and Foreign Secretary [[John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon|John Simon]], he continued to lead British delegations to international conferences, including the [[Geneva Disarmament Conference]] and the [[Lausanne Conference (1932)|Lausanne Conference]] in 1932, and the [[Stresa Conference]] in 1935.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kevin Morgan|title=Ramsay MacDonald|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E0ubhRtZ13kC&pg=PA79|year=2006|publisher=Haus Publishing|page=79|isbn=978-1904950615}}</ref> He went to [[Rome]] in March 1933 to facilitate [[Nazi Germany]]'s return to the concert of European powers and to continue the policy of appeasement.<ref>Aage Trommer, "MacDonald in Geneva in March 1933: A study in Britain's European policy." ''Scandinavian Journal of History'' 1#1–4 (1976): 293–312.</ref> On 16 August 1932 he granted the [[Communal Award]] upon India, partitioning it into separate electorates for [[Hindus]], [[Islam in South Asia|Muslims]], [[Sikhism in India|Sikhs]] and [[Dalit|Untouchables]].  Most important of all, he presided at the [[World Economic Conference (London)|World Economic Conference in London]] in June 1933.  Nearly every nation was represented, but no agreement was possible. The American president torpedoed the conference with a bombshell message that the US would not stabilise the depreciating dollar.  The failure marked the end of international economic cooperation for another decade.{{sfn|Taylor|1965|pp=334–335}}

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. One of the only other leading Labour figures to join the government, Philip Snowden, was a firm believer in [[free trade]] and resigned from the government in 1932 following the introduction of tariffs after the [[Ottawa agreement]].{{sfn|Morgan|1987|page=213}}{{Incomplete short citation|date=January 2021}}

=== Retirement ===
By 1933 MacDonald's health was so poor that his doctor [[Thomas Horder, 1st Baron Horder|Thomas Horder]] had to personally supervise his trip to Geneva. By 1934 MacDonald's mental and physical health declined further, and he became an increasingly ineffective leader as the international situation grew more threatening. His speeches in the House of Commons and at international meetings became incoherent. One observer noted how "Things ... got to the stage where nobody knew what the Prime Minister was going to say in the House of Commons, and, when he did say it, nobody understood it". Newspapers did not report MacDonald denying to reporters that he was seriously ill because he only had "loss of memory".<ref name="MacDonald"/>{{r|gunther1940}} 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]]. His government began the negotiations for the [[Anglo-German Naval Agreement]].

In these years he was irritated by the attacks of [[Lucy, Lady Houston]], the strongly nationalistic proprietor of the ''[[Saturday Review (London)|Saturday Review]]''. Lady Houston believed that MacDonald was under the control of the Soviets and amused the nation by giving MacDonald such epithets as the 'Spider of Lossiemouth,' and hanging a large sign in electric lights from the rigging of her luxury yacht, the {{SY|Liberty}}. According to some versions, it read 'Down with Ramsay MacDonald,' and to others 'To Hell with Ramsay MacDonald.' Lady Houston also sent agents to disrupt his election campaigns. In 2020 new research revealed how she purchased three letters, supposedly written by Ramsay MacDonald to Soviet officials but actually the work of an American forger. In 1935 Lady Houston stated that she intended to publish them but eventually handed them over to [[Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)|Special Branch]], and MacDonald's solicitors entered a legal battle with her.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Adventuress, the Life and Loves of Lucy, Lady Houston|last=Crompton|first=Teresa|publisher=The History Press|year=2020}}{{ISBN?}}</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2021}}

MacDonald was aware of his fading powers, and in 1935 he agreed to a timetable with Baldwin to stand down as Prime Minister after King George V's [[Silver Jubilee]] celebrations in May 1935. He resigned on 7 June in favour of Baldwin, and remained in the cabinet, taking the largely honorary post of [[Lord President of the Council|Lord President]] vacated by Baldwin.<ref name="MacDonald" />