James MacDonald

January 12, 1866 (age 70)

Lossiemouth, Scotland

James Ramsay MacDonald's loneliness made him vulnerable to friendships in aristocratic circles later in life. This was all the more natural when the failures of his second government led to his participation in the National Government in 1931. By 1900 he was sufficiently well known and respected to be invited to serve as secretary to the new Labour Representation Committee which became the Labour Party in 1906. In this capacity he was directly responsible for what proved to be the crucial breakthrough for the party. In 1903 he negotiated an electoral pact with Herbert Gladstone, the Liberal chief whip, which meant that the Liberals would refrain from running candidates in 29 of the 50 constituencies contested by Labour at the 1906 general election. In 24 of the 29 seats Labour candidates proved successful, including MacDonald himself, elected for Leicester. As an MP his oratorical powers and capacity for mastering legislative detail made him the outstanding parliamentarian on the Labour bench. In this period he suffered attack from socialists such as Ben Tillett and Victor Grayson for excessive loyalty towards the Liberal government. He also encountered much resistance from local ILP activists who wished to field candidates in Liberal constituencies in by-elections. However, up to 1914, it appears that he intended to maintain the pact. The First World War interrupted both this strategy and MacDonald's steady rise. By opposing British entry into the war he put himself in a minority and gave up the party chairmanship. Instead he founded the Union of Democratic Control, a pressure group which advocated a negotiated peace and a League of Nations. As a result he was vilified by the right-wing press, which even published a copy of his birth certificate. Now that opinion had turned against the pre-war arms race and wartime casualties, he gained much credit for the principled stand he had taken in 1914, and many left-wing MPs supported him in the contest for the party leadership in which he narrowly defeated J. R. Clynes. For some years MacDonald stood out as a popular hero to socialists, but he took care to smother radical policies, such as the capital levy, which he thought likely to lose votes. MacDonald deserves great credit for the skill with which he played a difficult hand in the aftermath of the 1923 election. With only 191 MPs he was invited to form a government. He deliberately avoided any deal with the Liberals, so as to prevent a return to the client relationship Labour had enjoyed before 1914. Although the government was defeated in Parliament after nine months, MacDonald had largely succeeded in his object of establishing Labour as a competent governing party. During the next five years the inability of the Baldwin government to tackle unemployment helped Labour to a further advance. In 1929 they won 288 seats, not far short of a majority. But this time MacDonald's conventional economic policy proved inadequate; the commitment to the gold standard, an over-valued pound, and the restoration of British export markets proved fatal. As unemployment mounted the prime minister seemed indecisive and self-pitying—the ‘Boneless Wonder’ in Churchill's derisive phrase. But it split over proposed cuts in unemployment benefit. MacDonald astonished his colleagues by accepting the king's invitation to lead a National Government with the Liberals and Tories.

James Ramsay MacDonald

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statesman

Background

James Ramsay MacDonald was born at Gregory Place, Lossiemouth, Morayshire, Scotland on October 12, 1866. His father was John MacDonald, a farm labourer, and mother, Anne Ramsay, a housemaid.

Education

James Ramsay MacDonald's worked as a student-teacher and then, coming to London in 1884, as a clerk while he continued his education by evening classes.

Career

James Ramsay MacDonald's loneliness made him vulnerable to friendships in aristocratic circles later in life.

This was all the more natural when the failures of his second government led to his participation in the National Government in 1931.

By 1900 he was sufficiently well known and respected to be invited to serve as secretary to the new Labour Representation Committee which became the Labour Party in 1906.

In this capacity he was directly responsible for what proved to be the crucial breakthrough for the party.

In 1903 he negotiated an electoral pact with Herbert Gladstone, the Liberal chief whip, which meant that the Liberals would refrain from running candidates in 29 of the 50 constituencies contested by Labour at the 1906 general election.

In 24 of the 29 seats Labour candidates proved successful, including MacDonald himself, elected for Leicester. As an MP his oratorical powers and capacity for mastering legislative detail made him the outstanding parliamentarian on the Labour bench.

In this period he suffered attack from socialists such as Ben Tillett and Victor Grayson for excessive loyalty towards the Liberal government.

He also encountered much resistance from local ILP activists who wished to field candidates in Liberal constituencies in by-elections.

However, up to 1914, it appears that he intended to maintain the pact. The First World War interrupted both this strategy and MacDonald's steady rise.

By opposing British entry into the war he put himself in a minority and gave up the party chairmanship.

Instead he founded the Union of Democratic Control, a pressure group which advocated a negotiated peace and a League of Nations.

As a result he was vilified by the right-wing press, which even published a copy of his birth certificate.

Now that opinion had turned against the pre-war arms race and wartime casualties, he gained much credit for the principled stand he had taken in 1914, and many left-wing MPs supported him in the contest for the party leadership in which he narrowly defeated J. R. Clynes.

For some years MacDonald stood out as a popular hero to socialists, but he took care to smother radical policies, such as the capital levy, which he thought likely to lose votes. MacDonald deserves great credit for the skill with which he played a difficult hand in the aftermath of the 1923 election.

With only 191 MPs he was invited to form a government.

He deliberately avoided any deal with the Liberals, so as to prevent a return to the client relationship Labour had enjoyed before 1914.

Although the government was defeated in Parliament after nine months, MacDonald had largely succeeded in his object of establishing Labour as a competent governing party. During the next five years the inability of the Baldwin government to tackle unemployment helped Labour to a further advance.

In 1929 they won 288 seats, not far short of a majority.

But this time MacDonald's conventional economic policy proved inadequate; the commitment to the gold standard, an over-valued pound, and the restoration of British export markets proved fatal.

As unemployment mounted the prime minister seemed indecisive and self-pitying—the ‘Boneless Wonder’ in Churchill's derisive phrase.

But it split over proposed cuts in unemployment benefit.

MacDonald astonished his colleagues by accepting the king's invitation to lead a National Government with the Liberals and Tories.

Achievements

When the Labour Representation Committee was established in 1900, MacDonald became its first secretary in recognition of his efforts toward its creation.

Connections

Ramsay MacDonald married Margaret Ethel Gladstone in 1896. The marriage was a very happy one, and they had six children.

Father:: John MacDonald
Mother:: Anne Ramsay
Spouse:: Margaret Ethel

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James Ramsay MacDonald

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