Abstract
The fall of the second Labour government was but a matter of time from when James Ramsay MacDonald formed a minority government in June 1929. The length of the government was always likely to be determined by when the Liberals would combine with the Conservatives to eject Labour. This was likely to be determined when the two parties were ready to face the electorate again, in terms of both enhanced political appeal over 1929 and adequate finances, and when Labour appeared sufficiently discredited to justify its removal part way through a five-year electoral term.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ball, S. (1986), ‘The Conservative Party and the Formation of the National Government, August 1931’, Historical Journal, Vol. 29, No. 1, 159–82.
Ball, S. (1996), ‘1916–1929’, in Seldon, A. (ed.), How Tory Governments Fall: The Tory Party in Power since 1783 (London: Fontana).
Bassett, R. M. (1958), Nineteen Thirty-One: Political Crisis (London: Macmillan).
Beers, L. (2010), Your Britain: Media and the Making of the Modern Labour Party (Cambridge: Harvard University Press).
Berkeley, H. (1976), ‘The Day of the National Government’, The Times, 14 August.
Berkeley, H. (1978), Myth That Will Not Die: The Formation of the National Government 1931 (London: Croom Helm).
Bullock, A. (1960), Ernest Bevin. Volume1: Trade Union Leader 1881–1940 (London: Heinemann).
Burgess, J. (1926), Will Lloyd George Supplant Ramsay MacDonald? (Ilford: Burgess).
Campbell, J. (1977), Lloyd George: The Goat in the Wilderness 1922–1931 (London: Jonathan Cape).
Clarke, P. (1988), The Keynesian Revolution in the Making 1924–1936 (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Cole, M. (1977), ‘The Society for Socialist Inquiry and Propaganda’, in Briggs, A. and Saville, J. (eds), Essays in Labour History, Vol. 3 (London: Croom Helm).
Committee on National Expenditure (1931), Report (London: HMSO, 1930–31, Cmd 3920).
Cook, C. (1976), A Short History of the Liberal Party 1900–1976 (London: Macmillan).
Cook, C. and Ramsden, J. (1973), By-elections in British Politics (London: Macmillan).
Craig, F. W. S. (1987), British Electoral Facts 1832–1987 (Aldershot: Dartmouth).
Dalton, H. (1953), Call Back Yesterday: Memoirs 1887–1931 (London: Frederick Muller).
Donoughue, B. and Jones, G. W. (1973), Herbert Morrison: Portrait of a Politician (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson).
Douglas, R. (1976), Landpeople and Politics: A History of the Land Question in the United Kingdom, 1878–1952 (London: Alison and Busby).
Dutton, D. (1991), ‘Lloyd George, John Simon and the Politics of the Liberal Party’, in Loades, J. (ed.), The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (Bangor: Headstart).
Dutton, D. (1992), Simon: A Political Biography of Sir John Simon (London: Aurum).
Garside, W. R. (1990), British Unemployment 1919–1939: A Study in Public Policy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Griffiths, C. (2011), ‘Making Farming Pay: Agricultural Crisis and the Politics of the National Interest, 1930–31’, in Shepherd, J., Davis, J. and Wrigley, C. (eds), Britain’s Second Labour Government, 1929–31: A Reappraisal (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
Hamilton, M. A. (1944), Remembering My Good Friends (London: Jonathan Cape).
Kindleberger, C. P. (1973), The World In Depression 1929–1939 (London: Allen Lane).
Labour Party (1929), Labour’s Appeal to the Nation (London: Labour Party).
Lawrence, J. (2000), ‘Labour — the Myths it has Lived By’, in Tanner, D., Thane, P. and Tiratsoo, N. (eds), Labour’s First Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Laybourn, K. (1988), Philip Snowden: A Biography (Aldershot: Temple Smith).
Laybourn, K. and Shepherd, J. (2006), Britain’s First Labour Government (Basingstoke: Palgrave).
MacKenzie, N. and MacKenzie, J. (eds) (1985), The Diary of Beatrice Webb, Vol. 4: 1924–1943 (London: Virago).
Marquand, D. (1977), Ramsay MacDonald (London: Cape).
McKenzie, R. (1955), British Political Parties (London: Heinemann).
McKibbin, R. I. (1975), ‘The Economic Policy of the Second Labour Government, 1929–31’, Past and Present, Vol. 68, No. 1, 95–123.
Morrison, H. (1960), An Autobiography (London: Odhams Press).
Packer, I. (2001), Lloyd George, Liberalism And The Land: The Land Issue and Party Politics in England 1906–1914 (Rochester, NY: Royal Historical Society/Boydell Press).
Pimlott, B. (1977), Labour and the Left in the 1930s (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Pimlott, B. (1985), Hugh Dalton (London: Jonathan Cape).
Pimlott, B. (1986), The Political Diary of Hugh Dalton, 1918–40, 1945–60 (London: Jonathan Cape).
Postgate, R. (1951), The Life of George Lansbury (London: Longmans, Green).
Riddell, N. (1999), Labour in Crisis: The Second Labour Government 1929–31 (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
Ritschell, D. (1997), The Politics of Planning: The Debate on Economic Planning in the 1930s (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Ritschell, D. (2011), ‘Why was there no Keynesian Revolution under the Second Labour Government? A Reassessment of Sir Oswald Mosley’s Alternative Economic Agenda in 1930–31’, in Shepherd, J., Davis, J. and Wrigley, C. (eds), Britain’s Second Labour Government, 1929–31: A Reappraisal (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
Samuel, V. (1944), Memoirs (London: Cresset Press).
Shepherd, J. (2002), George Lansbury (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Skidelsky, R. (1967), Politicians and the Slump: The Labour Government of 1929–31 (London: Macmillan).
Snowden, P. (1934), An Autobiography, Vol. 2: 1919–1934 (London: Ivor Nicholson and Watson).
Socialist Party of Great Britain (1929), The Socialist Standard, 25 June, 298.
Socialist Party of Great Britain (1931), The Socialist Standard, 28 September, 325.
Taylor, A. J. P. (ed.) (1971), Lloyd George: A Diary by Frances Stevenson (London: Hutchinson).
Thorpe, A. (1988), ‘Arthur Henderson and the British Political Crisis of 1931’, Historical Journal, Vol. 31, No. 1, 117–39.
Thorpe, A. (1991), The British General Election of 1931 (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Tregidga, G. (2000), The Liberal Party in South-West Britain since 1918 (Exeter: University of Exeter Press).
Wasserstein, B. (1992), Herbert Samuel: A Political Life (Oxford: Clarendon Press).
Webb, S. (1932), ‘What Happened in 1931: A Record’, Political Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1–17.
Wertheimer, E. (1930), Portrait of the Labour Party, 2nd edition (London: Putnams).
Williams, D. (1963), ‘London and the 1931 Financial Crisis’, Economic History Review, Vol. 15, No. 3, 513–28.
Williamson, P. (1984), ‘A “Bankers’ Ramp”: Financiers and the British Political Crisis of August 1931’, English Historical Review, Vol. 99, 771–806.
Williamson, P. (1991), ‘1931: The Political Realities’, Twentieth Century British History, Vol. 2, No. 3, 328–38.
Williamson, P. (1992), National Crisis and National Government: British Politics, The Economy and Empire 1926–32 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Williamson, P. (2002), ‘The Conservative Party 1900–1939: from crisis to ascendancy’, in Wrigley, C. (ed.), A Companion to Early Twentieth-Century Britain (Oxford: Historical Association and Blackwell).
Worley, M. (2005), Labour Inside the Gate: A History of the British Labour Party Between the Wars (London: I. B. Tauris).
Wrigley, C. (1976), David Lloyd George and the British Labour Movement: Peace and War (Hassocks: Harvester Press).
Wrigley, C. (1990), Arthur Henderson (Cardiff: University of Wales Press).
Wrigley, C. (1991), ‘Lloyd George and the Labour Party after 1922’, in Loades, J. (ed.), The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (Bangor: Headstart History).
Wrigley, C. (1999), ‘James Ramsay MacDonald 1922–31’, in Jeffreys, K. (ed.), Leading Labour: From Keir Hardie to Tony Blair (London: I. B. Tauris).
Wrigley, C. (2011), ‘Labour dealing with Labour: aspects of economic policy’, in Shepherd, J., Davis, J. and Wrigley, C. (eds), Britain’s Second Labour Government, 1929–31: A Reappraisal (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2013 Chris Wrigley
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wrigley, C. (2013). The Fall of the Second MacDonald Government, 1931. In: Heppell, T., Theakston, K. (eds) How Labour Governments Fall. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314215_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137314215_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-34850-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-31421-5
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)