Ramsay MacDonald

Ramsay MacDonald
Born	James McDonald Ramsay 12 October 1866 Lossiemouth, Scotland
Died	9 November 1937 (aged 71) Atlantic Ocean
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour

James Ramsay MacDonald, was the first Labour Prime Minister for the United Kingdom serving in 1924 and again from 1929 to 1935. Macdonald was a 'socialist' leader at the Second International, and is referred to by Lenin as a follower of Kautsky.

Early Life

Macdonald was born to a working class family, and worked as a teacher at the local board school he attended. At 18 he moved to Bristol as a clergyman’s assistant, where he joined the Social Democratic Federation.

Political Career

MacDonald was employed as a Liberal candidate’s assistant in London for 3 years, and joined the Independent Labour Party in 1893. He stood unsuccessfully as a parliamentary candidate in 1895, meanwhile working as a journalist.

He was elected for Leicester in 1906 and in 1911 he became chairman of the parliamentary Labour group. He lost his seat in 1918, but later returned to represent a Welsh mining constituency. Once back in Parliament, he became party leader and in 1924 he was asked to form a coalition government after the failure of the previous Conservative government.

MacDonald's first government was unstable and within a year he called an election, which his party was heavily defeated in. He returned to power in 1929 in a government beset with economic crises, including the doubling of unemployment levels. Macdonald betrayed his party and formed a cross party coalition government, following this he resigned in 1935, and subsequently lost his seat in parliament. He then fought to return to Parliament, winning a by-election.

He died on a boat in transit to South America in 1937.