The National Government 1931/45 - A Changing Political and Economic Environment 1918 - 79

Why was the National Government formed in 1931?

1. The outcome of the 1929 General Election.
2. Weaknesses of the minority Labour government of 1929-31.
3. Economic problems caused by the Great Depression.
4. Role of Ramsay MacDonald.

What was the outcome of the 1929 General Election?

—  On the back of an uninspired ‘Safety First’ election campaign, the Conservatives did not do enough to retain office as a single party government.

—  The results of the General Election were unusual in that the Conservatives won the largest share of the vote with 38.2% but this was not translated into an overall majority of seats as they won 260 of the 605 seats contested while Labour won 287 seats.

—  Therefore, the Labour Party, led by Ramsay MacDonald returned to power, in a minority government supported by 59 Liberal MPs.

What did the 1929-31 Labour government try to do?

—  The Labour Party had been in power, only once before – during 1924.

—  This period in office remained an unhappy memory as Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, was forced to make harsh economic choices that affected the poorest voters as well as handle the threat of industrial action.

—  It was also dependent on Liberal support which blunted its radical programme of welfare legislation.

—  The Labour government quickly lost support and was forced to call an election, which it lost heavily to the Conservatives.

What did the 1929-31 Labour government try to do?

—  Returning to office, MacDonald wanted to pass social welfare reforms which he was unable to do in 1924.

—  Therefore, he quickly developed a working relationship with the Liberal MPs and was able to pass a number of social reforms, which included The 1930 Housing Act and The Coal Mine Act 1930.

—  However, MacDonald warned in 1930 that Britain was going to go through ‘an economic blizzard’ over the next two years – he was right and the ‘blizzard’ blew away his government.

Why was the 1931 budget significant?

—  By 1931, the Labour government was struggling to finance its spending commitments, particularly finding money for their welfare reforms.

—  Britain needed loans from the US and France - however international bankers demanded a balanced budget as a condition for the loans

—  The government put together plans to cut spending and raise taxes to balance the budget. The centrepiece of these proposals was to cut unemployment benefit by 10% which were keenly supported by Prime Minister, MacDonald, and his Chancellor, Philip Snowden. They argued that these proposals would stabilise the pound despite causing hardship to many within the working class.

—  These proposals split the Labour Party and after much political wrangling resigned as the party of government on August 24^th 1931 and moved to expel MacDonald and Snowden from the party with Arthur Lansbury taking over.

What was the role of Ramsay MacDonald in creating the National Government in 1931?

—  MacDonald was a Prime Minister without a party and was ready to resign. However, both King George V and the Conservative Party wanted MacDonald to continue as Prime Minister – but for very different reasons.

—  King George V appealed to MacDonald’s patriotic duty and argued that by resigning MacDonald would make things even more unstable at a time of great difficulty.

—  The Conservatives, led by Stanley Baldwin, were happy to allow MacDonald continue as Prime Minister thinking that MacDonald would bear the brunt of any unpopular economic measures clearing the way for the Conservatives to take power at a later date.

—  As a result, MacDonald announced that he would continue to serve as Prime Minister leading a ‘National Government’ to face the emergency.

What happened in the General Election of 1931?

—  MacDonald called for an election in October 1931. He was worried that this would split the Labour Party – some had joined him to serve as part of the National Government while the rest formed a separate Labour Party following George Lansbury.

—  The Liberals were also similarly spilt.

—  The Conservatives, who had thrown their lot in with the National Government, insisted on an election as they wanted such a coalition government to tackle the crisis to be voted by the people.

—  The outcome of the 1931 General Election was an overwhelming victory for the National Government winning 554 seats with the Conservatives holding 473 of them.

—  Labour did extremely badly in the elections - winning just 52 seats

What challenges did the leaders of the National Government face between 1931 and 1945?

—  Economic threats – each leader had to deal with the aftermath of the Great Depression.

—  Opposition – each leader had to deal with the opposition the House of Commons provided. This was mainly through the Labour Party.

—  Rise of extreme politics – each leader faced the potential rise in extreme politics, particularly from the right and Oswald Mosley.

—  Foreign policy threats – each leader had to deal with the growing threats from abroad from, the issue of rearmament, through to appeasement and war.

MACDONALD

·       1931 Macdonald and his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Phillip Snowden, go ahead with spending cuts

·       MacDonald’s health begins to fail, Baldwin effectively takes over from 1931

BALDWIN

·       1935 Baldwin’s plan to appease fascist Italy by giving Mussolini 2/3 of Abyssinia was hugely unpopular when leaked to the press

·       Nazi Germany a growing threat; some wanted rapid rearmament, others wanted disarmament and cooperation with the League of Nations to avoid war

·       1935 Baldwin offers a compromise; increased spending on rearmament to fulfil any military requests from the League

·       1936 Abdication Crisis; Baldwin advises King Edward VIII to abdicate so he can marry Wallace Simpson, a divorcee, Baldwin is praised for his handling of the crisis

CHAMBERLIN

·       Attempts to find ‘peace in our time’ hugely popular with the British people

·       1938 flew three times to meet Hitler

·       Once war begins he is forced out of parliament by a vote of no confidence

CHURCHILL

·       Had long been an opponent of Hitler and a critic of appeasement

·       Appointed thanks to backing amongst Labour and Liberal MPS

·       Set up a war cabinet of just 5 men, to make quick war decisions

·       Creates new ministries, like Ministry for Aircraft Production

·       Emergency Powers Act (May 1940) gave wide-ranging powers to the British Government

·       An essential wartime leader, Churchill maintained public moral with inspirational speeches

The failure of extremism

Extremist failed to gain support in Britain, partly due to the success and unity of the National Government

Oswald Mosley and the BUF

o   Oswald Mosley forms the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in 1932 with the aim of emulating Mussolini style leadership

o    BUF was racist and anti-Semitic

o   Party funded mostly by Mosley himself and some wealthy aristocrats

o   50 000 members in 1930s

o   October 1936 ‘Battle of Cable Street’ ; BUF march through East London (home to many Jews and Irish immigrants) turned into a violent clash

o   WW2 made BUF even more unpopular; Mosley was imprisoned for three years until 1943 and the BUF was banned

The Communist Party of Great Britain

o   Far right more successful than Mosley

o   CPGB gained one MP in 1924 and 1935

o   However only gained a maximum of 0.4% of the vote; British electorate rejected communism

o   Traditions and strength of TU and Labour prevented communism from taking off

o   CPGB used ‘entryism’ - tried to infiltrate the Labour party to steer their ideas further to the left (Labour banned CPGB members from joining Labour to support this)

o   CPGB puppets of Russia, were against WW2 until Germanys invasion of Russia in 1941, funded by the USSR

o   They gain some support after Russia helps to defeat Nazi Germany