National Labour Organisation
|
National Labour Organisation
|
|
|---|---|
| Leader |
Ramsay MacDonald 1931–37 Malcolm MacDonald 1937–45 |
| Founded | 1931 |
| Dissolved | 14 June 1945 |
| Split from | Labour Party |
| Headquarters | London |
| Newspaper | News-Letter |
| Ideology |
Social democracy Pro-National Government Pro-Coalition |
The National Labour Organisation, also known as the National Labour Committee, was a British political group formed after the 1931 creation of the National Government to co-ordinate the efforts of the supporters of the government who had come from the Labour Party. The most prominent Labour Party member involved in the Government was the Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald. National Labour sponsored Parliamentary candidates but did not consider itself a full political party as it had no policy distinctive from that of the Government which it supported. After MacDonald's death, the group continued in existence until winding up on the eve of the 1945 general election; its newsletter ceased publication two years later.
The sudden decision to call a general election in October 1931 left MacDonald and the other Labour supporters with the difficult job of organising their own re-elections without any form of organisation. Preparations had been started on 19 September, and by early October National Labour supporters had a list of 34 seats which they wanted to fight: 14 out of 15 sitting National Labour MPs wished to fight for re-election, and a further ten candidates were ready to stand in other seats. The group thought that a further ten candidates could easily be found.
MacDonald was adamant that National Labour should be separate and not connected to Conservative Central Office. An offer of £100,000 funding from Lord Beaverbrook seems to have been declined, but Sir Alexander Grant gave £250 and the Duke of Westminster gave £2,000 through Maundy Gregory. National Labour had collected £20,000 in total for election expenses. At the start of the election MacDonald denied Labour Party claims that the funds had come from the Conservative Party.Frank Markham (MacDonald's Parliamentary Private Secretary) and the junior minister Earl De La Warr set up a National Labour Committee to run the election. De La Warr became chairman.
...
Wikipedia