The appointment of the first Labour government in January 1924 was widely regarded by contemporaries as an event of great political and social significance. The new Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, lacked the governmental experience of his predecessors and had risen from obscure origins. Many on the political right expressed alarmist expectations of attacks on private property and established institutions. Among the more extreme predictions was a claim that women would be nationalised and free love proclaimed as official government policy. Winston Churchill wrote that ‘the enthronement in office of a Socialist government will be a serious national misfortune such as has usually befallen great States only on the morrow of defeat in war’.
Notwithstanding such apocalyptic pronouncements, the government’s behaviour proved to be so moderate that its most radical supporters were to be gravely disappointed. After less than 10 months in office, no significant steps had been taken towards the achievement of socialist goals. The party suffered a heavy defeat in the general election of October 1924, winning 151 seats to the Conservatives’ 419.
The performance of the first Labour government was to be affected to a large extent by the circumstances in which it took office. It is important to remember that it was a minority administration, which had come to power because of the peculiar outcome of the December 1923 general election. Although the Conservatives had remained the largest party in the Commons, they were outnumbered by the Liberals and Labour. Since the contest had turned on one issue, it could legitimately be argued that Labour, as the largest pro-free trade party, had the right to form a government. On the other hand, this would mean forming a ministry with the help of the Liberals, who could withdraw their support at any time.
In these circumstances Labour’s term of office was unlikely to be more than a rather unsatisfactory apprenticeship in power. Some on the left were uneasy about the idea of taking office at all and argued that MacDonald should deliberately court parliamentary defeat with an uncompromising socialist programme.
MacDonald refused to ‘ride for a fall’ as suggested by members on the left and instead he resolved that a policy of moderation was essential to give the party a chance to prove its capacity to govern responsibly. If Labour was to establish itself as something more than a party of protest, it needed to win the confidence of the ideologically uncommitted outside the ranks of the movement.
It could be argued that Gladstone’s failure to unite his party, during a time when their ultimate support and confidence in his leadership was crucial, was a significant tactical error that contributed heavily towards the failure of the 1886 Home Rule Bill. The results of the 1885 general election were to have a significant impact on the political landscape of Britain; despite winning the most seats, the Liberals did not have an overall majority.As Parnell and the Irish Parliamentry Party (IPP) held the balance...
a part of. Later these views carried on to the Mulroney led conservatives who in M...
who had been seen by many Tories as a future leader of the party lost
In the 1906 election, the number of seats won by Liberals increased from 184 to 377, in contrast the numbers of seats lost by the Conservatives went from 402 seats won in 1900 to 157 seats lost in the 1906 election, this represented the lowest number of seats held by a Conservative government since 1832. This dramatic reversal of constituencies held, is due to a number of reasons. An argument is that, due to some poor decisions made by the Conservative governments, they in fact contributed largely to the landslide result in the 1906 election. ‘They were in effect the architects to the own downfall.’
Prime Minister Robert Menzies was a believer in the need for ‘great and powerful friends’ and the idea of ‘forward defence’. Before the 1949 federal election, Menzies campaigned on the representation of the Labor Party as out of touch with Australia’s postwar ambitions. He was aided by Chifley’s willpower to cover union wage stresses and control increase. Predominantly injuring for Labor was a Communist-led coal strike in New South Wales, and the government’s practice of troops to
To determine where the ideas behind the New Deal fit this paper will examine core areas within the new deal ranging from American Politics to economic roles of the New Deal including `Big Government' and `Big Labour'. It will also examine the New Deal's ideas concerning the environment, states, agriculture and social welfare.
In fact the place of Sir John A. Macdonald in this country was so large & so absorbing that it is almost impossible to conceive that the politics of this country, will continue without him. His loss overwhelms us. (Swainson, 149)
After the Liberal party revealed the scandal in April of 1873, Macdonald was forced to resign and the Liberals entered power. However, in 1878, Macdonald returned and headed the Conservative party until his death in 1891. After his death, the Conservative party began to crumble and switched leaders several times, before 1896 when the Liberal party, with Wilfrid Laurier in the chair, once again took the power back.
The Fear of Socialism and the Rise to Power of the Nazis in Germany between 1919 and 1933
When the Great Depression occurred right around 1930, William Lyon Mackenzie King and his government did not respond strongly . Although the depression was evidently obvious, King believed that the economic crisis was temporarily and only patience was needed to overcome it . It took a while for King to realize how the depression was affecting the politics . King believed that welfare was a provincial responsibility and no one else’s . During the depression, all provinces wanted to increase the tax in Ottawa, but he did not understand the concept of it since other provinces were going to use the tax for themselves. King thought that it was necessary for the provinces to take initiative and increase their taxes . As the depression hit rock bottom many Canadians were unemployed. As Canada was changing right in front of his eyes, King’s perspectives did not show change. In one of his speeches he declared, “I submit that there is not evidence in Canada today of an emergency situation which demands anything of that kind” . King did not face with depression in the most orderly matter but he was a great Liberal leader, he kept the Liberals together when the Conservatives were falling apart and new political parties were developed to compete for the votes . During the depression, King held an election that was one of the most important events that occurred in...
Due to the widespread popularity of FDR in 1936, the Republicans felt desperate to avoid a repeat of the 1932 failure in which FDR had trounced the incumbent Herbert Hoover. So the party had to select a candidate that could strongly oppose FDR and sweep all the electoral and popular votes. The Kansas...
The Strike of 1934 On May 9th 1934 a organized labor strike started in San Francisco that would snowball into a city crippling strike. The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) declared a strike for all longshoremen on the west coast, until they received better wages, a union-administered hiring hall, and union membership as a prerequisite for employed longshoremen. The Strike of 1934 lasted for three months, stopping maritime trade in the ports of the Western United States, from San Diego to Seattle. The clash was between the Industrial Association (IA), composed of big business and employers wanting to break the strike, and the ILA, along with other unions that dealt with maritime trades.
England has produced some of the most well-known men of history. One of these men, William Gladstone, was a leading figure in England’s most influential century. The “Grand Old Man” served in Parliament for sixty years, holding positions such as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister multiple times each. One of several ways Gladstone influenced Victorian England was economically and financially through his support in repealing the Corn laws in 1846, his successful budgets as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and through his first term as Prime Minister.
Lenin's Economic Policies in 1924 When the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917 they inherited many of the problems faced by the old Tsarist regime as well as those of the Provisional Government after the Tsars abdication. Lenin, as leader of the Bolsheviks took many measures to try and solve these problems, each with varying degrees of success. This essay will, therefore, go on to look at and discuss the various measures that Lenin and the Bolshevik party took, and, whether these measures created more problems for Russia in the end or in fact made significant progress towards the communist society that Lenin had prophesised for Russia. In the early days of Bolshevik rule, there were many problems facing Lenin.
It was always very difficult for people to agree about politics in the 1900s. Many people wanted to make changes or improvements in the government to promote a stronger d...