The Search for Stability 1922-1929

Página 1

The Labour Party 1922-1929

1918 promises - free education, housing, clause IV, equality for women, keep free trade, pro peace and LofN

January 1924 First Labour Government (lasted 266 days)

Positives

MacDonald proved Labour were fit to govern through implementing a cabinet that would help him achieve his aims e.g Snowden as Chancellor of Exchequer (right wing, moderate)

didn't make changes to traditional areas e.g empire

implemented social reforms which would please the public e.g. Wheatley's housing act (Chamberlain's subsidy was increased by 50% - under the scheme more than half a million more houses were built), increased unemployment benefit, increased pensions, state scholarships to the universities undoing the Geddes economies of 1922.

pleased other parties like Cons by promising to use force against strikes and keeping low spending

had a successful foreign policy e.g. Dawes Plan (reduced G reparations and withdrawal of French troops from the Ruhr) 'the first negotiated agreement since the war', helped to give the LofN a new prestige by speaking at it's assembly in Geneva

gained 1 million more votes

not a revolutionary government which people feared

left the international situation in a more favourable position than that which they inherited.

Set backs

Labour did not have a parliamentary majority and was not even the largest single party

some historians believe that MacDonald was incompetent and insensitive in his cabinet making e.g The former railraymen's leader J.H. Thomas become Colonial Secretary even through he knew very little about the empire however could also be seen as tactical due to him giving them deliberately unsuited roles so that they can 'learn the ropes' and not interfere with the work of their civil servants.

Industrial relations were poor and strikers did not receive favourable treatment

MacDonald had little respect for Labour ministers and was generally alienated from them

government only lasted nine months however they gained experience had proved they were 'fit to govern'

Their reputation was damaged by a story in the Daily Mail titled 'Civil War Plot by Socialists' written by the leading Zinoviev to the Communist party of GB calling for a revolution. - The letter was used by the Cons to damn the government and propaganda to increase their support. Many historians believe that the letter was forgery

29 October 1924 Labour lost 40 seats while Cons gained 154.

Labour Government 1929 - 1931

Why did they Win the Election?

Their Manifesto

Kept it vague and not revolutionary rather a set of principles

public work schemes and expand industry

nationalise mines, shortened labour hours, increase demand by increasing purchasing power

advocated equal citizenship

called 'Labour and the Nation'

2. First Past the Post

Worked in their favour - they didn't win all the votes Lab 8.4 Cons 8.6 but they won more constituencies

3. General Strike

the working class realised that parliamentary action offered the best chance of achieving their aims and with unemployment standing at over million voters were looking towards Labour as the party most likely to safeguard their interests

Bitterness of the Trade Disputes Act 1927 - gave the Labour party and the trade unions a common cause to unite

4. Weakness of Opposition

Cons - 'safety first' about campaigning on their record (1 mill unemployed, trade disputes act, unbalanced management of payments)

perceived as old and in-inventive - They lost over 140 seats but won more votes 8.6 million votes

Cons did nothing to solve unemployment and failure to solve other issues in the economy such as the balance of payments deficit

Libs - policies seemed unrealistic and they failed to explain their policies and too late to publish them

division mid 1920s

5. The 'flapper vote'

Success

Passed 3 reforms to improve society and tackle unemployment

a) The coal mines act 1930 - working hours were reduced from 8 to 7 1/2 hours

b) Agricultural Marketing Act 1931- set up boards of food producers with the power to fix prices

c) Housing Act 1930 - Introduced by Arthur Greenwood the minister of Health, re-introduced government subsidies for council housing and granted greater powers to local authorities to enforce slum clearance

Foreign Policy

- Henderson's Young Plan (Germany excepted as an equal nation)

- made a considerable impression at the LofN

- President of disarmament conference 1932

Failures

Economic situation

- By 1931 GB began to suffer severely from the effects of world-wide depression

- Unemployment increased to 3 million

- Decrease in industrial production caused decrease in revenue from taxation and the gov began to run out of money

- Snowden believed in balanced budgets which meant restricting public expenditure

May Committee Report

- recommended decrease in pay for teachers, civil servants and armed services

- suggested that unemployment pay should be cut by 10%

- many believed it would destroy the very principle for which the Labour Party had been created (protection of the working class)

- however there was no other option as international bankers were unwilling to advance further loans unless GB reduced welfare expenditure

- 10 of the 21 members rejected it

MacDonald's betrayal

- The Cabinet had split do MD declared in intention of resigning and after meeting with King George V they had made an agreement that MD remained PM of a new coalition government

- He claimed that he was putting 'country before party'

- Only 3 ministers (Thomas, Sankey and Snowden) and a handful of Labour backbenchers switched their loyalties to the NG

- In 1931 lost 236 seats and popular vote dropped by 1.7 million votes

- However could be argued that there was no there option as making £56 million worth of cuts would undermine Labour's values and defeat the purpose of the party

Página 2

The Conservative Party 1922-29

November 1922 Conservative Victory

- Won 345 seats

- Asquith Liberals - 62 seats

- Lloyd George Liberals - 54 seats

- Labour - 142 seats (emerged as the main political opposition)

- 1923 = Baldwin became PM and decided that another general election was necessary despite their overall majority

- Downfall - Chamberlain's Tariff Reform - Baldwin argued that tariffs would make foreign goods more expensive in Gb and thus give a much-needed boost to the British industry - reunited the Liberal party and along with the Labour party they campaigned on the fact free trade would keep the cost of living standards low - resulted in Cons losing their overall majority

The Second Baldwin Government 1924-29

Cons remained in power till 1945 (minority Labour gov in 1929-1931)

Why was there a Conservative Revival?

Organisation Improvements

- Balfour had set up a committee to improve party organisation (1910) which resulted in

a creation of a new position - Chairman of the Party Organisation to help the Chief Whip by sharing the responsibility of party organisation

By 1914 local constituency branches had gained the right to control propaganda and speakers as well as to choose their own candidates instead of being told what to do by Central Office

Conservative's Working Men's Associations was set up in many constituencies and after women were given the vote in 1918 women's branches were set up

Strong Leadership

- Bonar Law

- Stanley Baldwin = Tactical and Strategic

believed in a moderate consensus, a partnership between employers and workers and rejected the idea of a class war

treated his own workforce with sympathy and understanding

moderate approach in the handling of the General Strike

in a HofC speech in 1925 he killed off a 'die hard' conservative private member's bill to reduce trade union powers

set up the BBC

set up the National Grid 1933

re-united the conservative party until his retirement in 1937

Appealing Party Policies

- adopted moderate policies that would appeal to all, discarding the traditional lassiez-faire approach associated with the Conservatives therefore appealing to more voters such as lower middle class and even working class who now felt they could rely on the party to safeguard their interests

- it is clear that they were willing to adapt their policies to changing circumstances and proved to be willing to move towards collectivism

- e.g. passed the 1927 Unemployment Insurance Act, The Local Government Act 1929

- policies provided stability especially during the 1930s which was what the country most needed during the economic depression

Contingent Factors

- First past the post system seem to always work in their favour as they had a strong majority support from the upper classes and the middle upper classes which tended to be located in denser areas throughout the UK

- further benefited from the plural voting amendment

- Liberal failures and splits during the war led to some Conservatives being included in the War-time coalition (1915-18)

- they were the party who stood for patriotism, strong defence and conscription and so they were the party better suited to meet the needs of the hour - this led to them being elected in the 1918 coupon election

- when the Anglo-Irish Treaty partitioning Ireland came into operation in 1922, there were no longer any Irish Nationalists MPs in the Commons which removed support for the Liberals which had previously kept them in power after the 1910 elections

Opposition Weaknesses

- Liberals dissolution due to poor leadership and bad organisation meant that Cons could take traditional Lib voters such as right-wing middle class voters - however could also argue this was due to Baldwin's tactical leadership skills where he encouraged Libs to support Labour promises in 1923 so that he could take middle class voters who would be hostile to Libs associations to a socialist party

- Labour had suffered from links with communism and socialism with its involvement in the Campbell-Bannerman case and the publication of the Zinoviev letter which isolated many supporters and marked the fall of their 1924 government

- Cons further benefitted from the spilt in the Labour party in 1929 over issues in the economy - this is what allowed them to form a coalition government in 1931 and gain power back again - however again it could be argued that this was Baldwin's doing as he encouraged along with King MacDoanld to lead a coalition government with the conservatives

- Labour only seemed to manage to form minority governments in the inter-war years which worked to Cons advantage as it meant Lab could only pass limited reform and not implement all the principles they promise to such as nationalisation

1924 Government

Positives

had a majority of over 200 which made Baldwin's position secure

he had a full-strength team due to using the months in opposition to bring the coalition (1918) Tories back into the fold.

Returned to the Gold Standard which gave people confidence and all major economies were on it pre WW1 however Keynes criticised this arguing that the pound had been over valued by 10% in relation to the economic state as well as this it made GB exports expensive.

R.E General Strike - set up Trade Disputes Act 1927 which made another one impossible, minimal violence, kept stability and peace, was over in 9 days

The Unemployment Insurance Act 1927 - increased contributions and reduced benefits - the cons had accepted the principle of long-term maintenance by the state

Extension of the Franchise Act 1928 - vote was extended to women at the age of 21, the electorate increased from 22 to 29 million

Local Government Act -

set a precedent that the gov do understand the needs of the public L-T

Set Backs

Post war depression - cuts in government spending e.g. limited reforms, cuts in benefits and wages

inability to regenerate outdated staple industries which meant inefficiency and reduced exports therefore high unemployment as well as competition from Poland and Germany

Gold standard being overvalued

KEY EVENT; The General Strike 1926 - Gov unwilling to negotiate with the trade unions e.g stopped them 2nd May and didn't enforce policies enough like the Samuel Commission, L-T gold standard

Lab used strike as negative propaganda arguing that he gov was not in control and the bitterness over the trade disputes Act as well as 1 mill unemployed helped to unite the trade unionists and Labour.

unemployment benefit 1927 reduced benefits

not re elected in 1929

Página 3

The Liberal Party 1922-1929

Set Backs

L-T damage

- Libs in trouble pre WW1; They lost their majority 1910 election, Dangerfield - issue of Ireland, women and challenges to constitution (signs they couldn't cope)

- split over HR n 1886 the Liberal Party was increasingly dependent on more sectional interest groups such as religious non conformists, Irish, Welsh and Scottish nationalists

- suffered from disagreements over direction and policy

- losing aristocratic and middle class support to the Conservatives

- Until mid-1880s the trade unions had worked closely with Liberals and 'Lib-Labism' was an established strand of Liberal politics however socialist ideas were increasingly being spread and 'new unionism' influenced the idea that Labour should take a independent political stance.

- 1906 was the only election after 1885 at which the Liberals won a majority of constituencies emphasising the extent to which middle-class England already become more natural Conservative territory

- heavily relied on the Labour pact but there was no guarantee about its permanency and Labour then had the capacity to inflict sufficient electoral damage on the Liberals.

- People's budget Act provoked a confrontation with Conseravtive HofL and they ended up losing their majority in the process and therefore having to rely on Irish Nationalists with pressure to pass Home Rule which lead to the Ulster Rebellion.

- Libs failed to deal with the question on women suffrage thereby alienating not only the militant suffragettes but other sections of the women's movement

- During WW1 their was a growing criticism of the government; the 'shells shortage' on the Western Front and the resignation of Admiral Fisher left Asquith to form a coalition and this resulted in the weakening of unity within the party as not all supported his decision. This allowed for LG to undermine his position by creating a small 'War Committee' as him as chairmen. - Triggered the split in the Liberal party

Electoral System

- 1924 election = percentage of votes polled at Cons = 48.3, Labour = 33 and Libs = 17.6 this only gave Labour 40 seats while Cons gained 419 - due to the fact there were three parties contesting many seats and so many MPs won their seats on a minority vote

-1929: 59 seats 23.4% vote but 5 million votes whereas Lab 288 seats 37% vote

- the percentage of the electorate that voted for them was not represented in the percentage of seats they held due to their support not being dense enough in certain constituencies because they didn't appeal strongly enough to one particular area like Labour did with the working class population

- there was clearly no remaining interest group large enough to keep the Liberal party going

- However in 1918 LG could have introduced 'the alternative vote' in the 1918 Representation of the People Act therefore it was their own mistake

Internal Divison

- Lloyd George vs Asquith - 1916 formal split

- 1918 election - 133 LG Liberals stood alongside 380 Conservatives in a coalition - Asquith ended up losing his seat and this resulted in the division to widen

Problems with Policies and Poor Leadership

- failed to convince the public that their policies would be a success in order to gain support e.g. in 1923 they united again over tariffs but it was too little too late as they lacked dynamic leadership and policies that made them distinctive from Labour

- however after the 1923 election the Labour relied on the liberals to form a government since they lacked a majority (Lab won 191 seats while Libs won 159 seats) but Libs made the fatal mistake of not capitalising on this opportunity to gain back power through allowing MacDonald to form a gov without any conditions or without thinking how they would fare of Labour refused to cooperate which they did. They played into the hands of both MacDonald and Baldwin due to bad leadership and organisation - allowed Labour to permanently push them into third place as they listened to Baldwin's advice of supporting all the Labour policies which encouraged the loss of middle-class liberal supporters

- Asquith had clearly missed an opportunity here where he could have insisted on a coalition government with Labour in 1924

- Their March 1929 campaign 'we can conquer unemployment' (planned public work schemes funded by £300 million loans) would have caused a multiplier effect and decrease unemployment. However they failed to convince the public that this would be effective because the economics seemed too complicated and radical which was avoided in the context of the General Strike.

- Lack of distinction from Labours' policies who also offered public works but were more consistent with their direction

- If the Liberals could have come up with the right policies and the right leader to attract working class votes they have not fallen into complete decline

Página 4

Social and Cultural Change 1922-1929

1. Unemployment and Regional Division

- The Unemployment Insurance Act 1927 (the work of Neville Chamberlain, minster of health during Baldwin's second government) - said that benefit would be paid for an unlimited period, showed that the Cons were accepting the principle of long-term maintenance by the state, though workers' contributions were increased

- Responsible for the ending of the Poor Law 1929, Neville Chamberlain ended it and handed all the workhouses over to the county councils which were expected to appoint Public Assistance Committees to be responsible for the care of the poor

- The Wheatley Housing Act 1924

- Old Age Contributory Pensions Act 1925

-

2. The Post-War role of Women

3. Growth of media inc newspapers and Cinema

4. The Cultural Reaction to War

Página 5

The Economy (Inter War)

Reasons for Decline

Lack of efficiency in Staple Industries

Context = Coal mines had been nationalised during the war in order to control the industry directly but in 1921 mines returned to private control - staple industries were prosperous during the war as they were relied on heavily for producing the supplies of the war effort

1919-20 = temporary boom where british industries including staple enjoyed a great surge of exports

1921 = slump begins - decrease in trade/exports, decrease in spending and structural unemployment due to decline of the staple industries because of fierce competition from more highly mechanised and more efficient foreign countries and cheaper foreign goods such as Japanese textiles

e.g. in coal industry lack of efficiency and mechanisation and in turn they faced stiff competition from Germany and Poland e.g. in 1925 only 20% of British output was produced by coal-cutting machines, in addition France and Italy were receiving free coal from Germany as part of reparations

Government Policy

- Very little was done to modernise these struggling industries and there were no state subsidies implemented e.g. far too many small coal mines, which were expensive to operate and therefore uncompetitive

1925 = return to the Gold Standard = overvaluation of the £1 and so worsened the export position as increased the price - Keynes suggested that the fund had been overvalued by 10% making exports much more expensive

1926 = General Strike - Samuel Report sided with the miners but not accepted as it was a Cons Gov and 9 month subsidy (Red Friday) had created false hope

Balance of Payment issues due to increased foreign competition

- Many foreign countries introduced tariff barriers to protect their home industries

- this made exporting goods very difficult

1929 = Wall Street Crash - big impact as USA recalled their loans - debate 1929-31 = should the govt have followed a different policy austerity (classical/treasury orthodoxy) vs Keynism (spending your way out) - this added cyclical unemployment to the existing structural unemployment

Página 6

The General Strike

- July 1925 = Red Friday - government agreed to subsidise the coal mine industry for 9 months - gave false hope to the mine workers

- March 1926 = Samuel Commission - recommended restructuring coal industry, wage cuts due to falling sales and rejected nationalisation - both miners and mine owners rejected the report

- 1 May 1926 = Emergency Power Act

- 2 May 1926 = printers at Daily Mail went on strike

- 3 May 1926 = General Strike begins - lasts 9 days - ends on 12 May

- 1927 = Trade Disputes Act

- union membership decreased from over 8.5 million to 4.9 million and trade union funds couldn't be used for politics therefore Labour's income decreased 25%

Who was to blame?

Trade Unions

- it was a political strike/attack on the government as cutting wages was an integral part of government policy to increase exports therefore the general strike was a political challenge

- however essential services such as domestic electricity, sewage and rubbish collection were maintained

- strongly supported and encouraged the coal miners to strike however had no intentions of carrying through with in as believed the mere threat would make government do something

- TUC leaders were far too moderate to be considered syndicalists

- continued to negotiate with the government on behalf of the miners but Baldwin refused therefore the general strike became inevitable

- violence was used during the strike e.g. in Leeds a coal and stone throwing at trams driven by volunteers however no one was killed

Government/Baldwin

- gave miners false hope through subsidising the mine for 9 months

- trade union members were willing to negotiate 2nd/3rd May but the MPs had left to go home

- they refused to nationalise the mines even though it was widely believed that only government control could bring about the essential modernisation that would enable the industry to survive

- return to gold standard 1925 worsened the export position of all British industry, Churchill had overvalued the £1 by 10%

- L-T issue of not enough investment in staple industries to improve efficiency and mechanisation which resulted in declining profits and therefore low wages e.g. in 1925 only 20% of GB output was produced by coal-cutting machines

- Baldwin should have insisted on both the coal mine owners and the workers accepting the Samuel Report and should not have broken of negotiations with the TUC

Contingent Factors i.e. the economy

- post-war economic depression which brought about falling exports and mass unemployment

- during the war gov nationalised the coal mines in order to control industry directly which brought about great advantages e.g. paid a national wage however once the immediate crisis was over in 1921 mines were returned to private control

- increased foreign competition from countries like Germany and Poland

Mine Owners

- refused to do anything to modernise the coal mines

- made the situation worse by reducing wages again 30 April

- 1928 = Extension of the Franchise Act - vote extended to women at the age of 21 and so the electorate increased from 22 million to 29 million