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National Government (1931)
1st National Government of the United Kingdom
1st National Government of the United Kingdom
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| flag | Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government, 1901-1952).svg |
| flag_border | false |
| cabinet_number | 1st |
| cabinet_type | National Government |
| jurisdiction | the United Kingdom |
| incumbent | August–October 1931 |
| image | Ramsay-MacDonald (cropped).jpg |
| caption | Ramsay MacDonald |
| date_formed | |
| date_dissolved | |
| government_head_title | Prime Minister |
| government_head | Ramsay MacDonald |
| state_head_title | Monarch |
| state_head | George V |
| government_head_history | 1929–1935 |
| deputy_government_head | Stanley Baldwin |
| total_number | 59 appointments |
| political_parties | {{unbulleted list |
| legislature_status | Majority (coalition) |
| legislature_term | 35th UK Parliament |
| last_election | [1931 general election](1931-united-kingdom-general-election) |
| opposition_party | Labour Party |
| opposition_leaders | {{unbulleted list |
| previous | Second MacDonald ministry |
| successor | Second National Government |
| Conservative Party | Liberal Party | National Labour | Liberal National Party | |
The National Government of August–October 1931, also known as the First National Government, was the first of a series of national governments formed during the Great Depression in the United Kingdom. It was formed by Ramsay MacDonald as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the collapse of the previous minority government, led by the Labour Party, known as the Second MacDonald ministry.
As a National Government, it was dominated by members of the Conservative Party, and also included a few from Liberals and National Labour, as well as individuals who belonged to no political party. The breakaway Liberal Nationals supported the National Government after their formation in September 1931 but none received posts in the new administration. Subsequently, two Liberal ministers, Alec Glassey and John Pybus, defected to the Liberal Nationals. It did not contain members of the Labour Party as MacDonald had been expelled from it. The Labour Party led the opposition.
Denounced as a traitor, MacDonald was expelled from the Labour Party, and remained a hated figure within the Labour Party, despite his great services to his party earlier in his life.
Formation
The outgoing Labour cabinet, which was a minority government, was unable to agree upon proposals to cut public expenditure. Prime Minister MacDonald submitted his resignation to King George V on 24 August 1931.
The new ministry was formed on the same day, when MacDonald was re-appointed prime minister. A smaller-than-usual cabinet was appointed on 25 August 1931. The King persuaded MacDonald that it was his duty to form a new government to address the financial crisis. The original idea was that the National Government would be free to draw upon the talents of members of all parties, so that it would represent the nation as a whole rather than being a coalition of parties like those which had existed between 1915 and 1922. However, as the main body of the Labour Party refused to co-operate, the government comprised members from MacDonald's small group of National Labour supporters, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party.
The Liberal Party was split into three factions. The mainstream party led by Sir Herbert Samuel, who had been the Deputy Leader of the party before the formation of the National Government, continued to support free trade. The Liberal National group led by Sir John Simon had accepted the Conservative policy of protectionism. These two Liberal factions were supporters of the National Ministry. The third group led by David Lloyd George (later to be called the Independent Liberals) had initially supported the creation of the National Government with two of them (Gwilym Lloyd George and Goronwy Owen) taking office. David Lloyd George had been expected to join the government after recovering from surgery following an operation on his prostate as he was still the official leader of the Liberal party. However, he refused to support the calling of a general election, and persuaded his supporters to leave the government and go into opposition.
General election
MacDonald's National Government had not originally been intended to fight a general election, but under Conservative pressure one was soon called. The Samuelite Liberal Party was opposed to a general election but found it could not prevent one. Parliament was dissolved on 8 October 1931.
The 1931 general election took place on 27 October 1931 and led to a landslide victory for candidates supporting the National Government. MacDonald reconstructed his government on 5 November 1931, establishing the 1931–35 National Government.
Cabinet
The main roles:See M. Epstein, ed. The Annual Register 1931 (1932) pp. xi to xv; online
August 1931 – November 1931
- Ramsay MacDonald – Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
- Lord Sankey – Lord Chancellor
- Stanley Baldwin – Lord President
- Philip Snowden – Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Sir Herbert Samuel – Home Secretary
- Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading – Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Lords
- Sir Samuel Hoare – Secretary for India
- J.H. Thomas – Dominions Secretary and Colonial Secretary
- Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister – President of the Board of Trade
- Neville Chamberlain – Minister of Health
Key
- = Member of National Labour
- = Member of the Conservative Party
- = Member of the Liberal Party
Members of the Ministry
The First National Government was composed of members of the following parties:
- National Labour
- Conservative Party
- Liberal Party
Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.
| Office | Name | Party | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister | **Ramsay MacDonald** | National Labour Organisation}}" | National Labour | |
| Lord Chancellor | **John Sankey, 1st Baron Sankey** | National Labour Organisation}}" | National Labour | |
| Lord President of the Council | **Stanley Baldwin** | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Lord Privy Seal | William Peel, 1st Earl Peel | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | **Philip Snowden** | National Labour Organisation}}" | National Labour | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury | Sir Bolton Eyres-Monsell | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Financial Secretary to the Treasury | Walter Elliot | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Lords of the Treasury | David Margesson | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Sir Frederick Penny | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | 3 September 1931 – 12 November 1931 | |
| Alec Glassey | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | 14 September 1931 – 12 November 1931 | |
| William Cavendish-Bentinck, Marquess of Titchfield | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | 3 September 1931 – 12 November 1931 | |
| Euan Wallace | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | 3 September 1931 – 12 November 1931 | |
| Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | **Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading** | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | Anthony Eden | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Secretary of State for the Home Department | **Sir Herbert Samuel** | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department | Oliver Stanley | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| First Lord of the Admiralty | Sir Austen Chamberlain | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty | James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries | Sir John Gilmour, 2nd Baronet | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries | *vacant* | |||
| Secretary of State for Air | William Mackenzie, 1st Baron Amulree | National Labour Organisation}}" | National Labour | |
| Under-Secretary of State for Air | Sir Philip Sassoon | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Secretary of State for the Colonies | **James Henry Thomas** | National Labour Organisation}}" | National Labour | |
| Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies | Sir Robert Hamilton | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs | **James Henry Thomas** | National Labour Organisation}}" | National Labour | |
| Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs | Malcolm MacDonald | National Labour Organisation}}" | National Labour | |
| President of the Board of Education | Sir Donald Maclean | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education | Sir Kingsley Wood | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Minister of Health | **Neville Chamberlain** | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health | Ernest Simon | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Secretary of State for India | **Sir Samuel Hoare** | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Under-Secretary of State for India | *vacant* | |||
| Minister of Labour | Sir Henry Betterton | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour | Milner Gray | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Paymaster General | Sir Tudor Walters | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Minister for Pensions | George Tryon | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions | *vacant* | |||
| Postmaster-General | William Ormsby-Gore | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Assistant Postmaster-General | Graham White | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Secretary of State for Scotland | Sir Archibald Sinclair | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Under-Secretary of State for Scotland | Noel Skelton | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| President of the Board of Trade | Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade | Gwilym Lloyd George | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Secretary for Overseas Trade | Sir Edward Young | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Secretary for Mines | Isaac Foot | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Minister of Transport | John Pybus | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport | George Gillett | National Labour Organisation}}" | National Labour | |
| Secretary of State for War | Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Under-Secretary of State for War | *vacant* | |||
| Financial Secretary to the War Office | Alfred Duff Cooper | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| First Commissioner of Works | Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Attorney General | Sir William Jowitt | National Labour Organisation}}" | National Labour | |
| Solicitor General | Sir Thomas Inskip | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Lord Advocate | Craigie Mason Aitchison | National Labour Organisation}}" | National Labour | |
| Solicitor General for Scotland | John Charles Watson | National Labour Organisation}}" | National Labour | |
| Treasurer of the Household | Sir George Hennessy, 1st Baronet | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative | |
| Comptroller of the Household | Goronwy Owen | Liberal Party (UK)}}" | Liberal | |
| Vice-Chamberlain of the Household | Sir Frederick Charles Thomson | Conservative Party (UK)}}" | Conservative |
Notes
Footnotes
References
- Bassett, Reginald (1986). 1931 Political Crisis (2nd ed.). Aldershot, UK: Macmillan. .
- Cawood, Ian (2013). "Liberal-Conservative Coalitions – 'a Farce and a Fraud'?" History & Policy.
- Epstein, M., ed. (1932). The Annual Register 1931. pp. 62–116. For very detailed history.
- Howell, David (2002). MacDonald's Party: Labour Identities and Crisis, 1922–1931. Oxford U.P. .
- Hyde, H. Montgomery (1973). Baldwin: The Unexpected Prime Minister.
- Mowat, Charles L. (August 1944). "The Fall of the Labour Government in Great Britain, August, 1931". Huntington Library Quarterly 7#4, pp. 353–386. .
- Mowat, Charles Loch (1955). Britain Between the Wars: 1918–1945. pp. 413–79.
- Raymond, John, ed. (1960). The Baldwin Age. Essays by scholars. 252 pp.
- Smart, Nick (1999). The National Government, 1931–40. Macmillan. .
- Taylor, A. J. P. (1965). English History 1914–1945. pp. 321–88.
- Thorpe, Andrew (1992). Britain in the 1930s. The Deceptive Decade. Oxford: Blackwell. .
- Williamson, Philip (1992). National Crisis and National Government: British Politics, the Economy and the Empire, 1926–1932. Cambridge UP. .
References
- Nick Smart, ''The national government, 1931–40'' (Bloomsbury, 1999.)
- Charles L. Mowat, "The Fall of the Labour Government in Great Britain, August, 1931." ''The Huntington Library Quarterly'' (1944) 7#4: 353–386. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3815737 online]
- C.L. Mowat, "Ramsay MacDonald and the Labour party." in ''Essays in Labour History 1886–1923'' (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1971) pp.129–151.
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