# National Government (1931)

The National Government of August–October 1931, also known as the First National Government, was the first of a series of national governments formed during the Great Depression in the United Kingdom. It was formed by Ramsay MacDonald as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the collapse of the previous minority government, led by the Labour Party, known as the Second MacDonald ministry.
As a National Government, it was dominated by members of the Conservative Party, and also included a few from Liberals and National Labour, as well as individuals who belonged to no political party. The breakaway Liberal Nationals supported the National Government after their formation in September 1931 but none received posts in the new administration. Subsequently, two Liberal ministers, Alec Glassey and John Pybus, defected to the Liberal Nationals. It did not contain members of the Labour Party as MacDonald had been expelled from it. The Labour Party led the opposition.
Denounced as a traitor, MacDonald was expelled from the Labour Party, and remained a hated figure within the Labour Party, despite his great services to his party earlier in his life.

## Formation

The outgoing Labour cabinet, which was a minority government, was unable to agree upon proposals to cut public expenditure. Prime Minister MacDonald submitted his resignation to King George V on 24 August 1931.
The new Ministry was formed on the same day, when MacDonald was re-appointed Prime Minister. A smaller-than-usual cabinet was appointed on 25 August 1931. The King persuaded MacDonald that it was his duty to form a new government to address the financial crisis. The original idea was that the National Government would be free to draw upon the talents of members of all parties, so that it would represent the nation as a whole rather than being a coalition of parties like those which had existed between 1915 and 1922. However, as the main body of the Labour Party refused to co-operate, the government comprised members from MacDonald's small group of National Labour supporters, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party.
The Liberal Party was split into three factions. The mainstream party led by Sir Herbert Samuel, who had been the Deputy Leader of the party before the formation of the National Government, continued to support free trade. The Liberal National group led by Sir John Simon had accepted the Conservative policy of protectionism. These two Liberal factions were supporters of the National Ministry. The third group led by David Lloyd George (later to be called the Independent Liberals) had initially supported the creation of the National Government with two of them (Gwilym Lloyd George and Goronwy Owen) taking office. David Lloyd George had been expected to join the government after recovering from surgery following an operation on his prostate as he was still the official leader of the Liberal party. However, he refused to support the calling of a general election, and persuaded his supporters to leave the government and go into opposition.

## General election

MacDonald's National Government had not originally been intended to fight a general election, but under Conservative pressure one was soon called. The Samuelite Liberal Party was opposed to a general election but found it could not prevent one. Parliament was dissolved on 8 October 1931.
The 1931 general election took place on 27 October 1931 and led to a landslide victory for candidates supporting the National Government. MacDonald reconstructed his government on 5 November 1931, establishing the 1931–35 National Government.

## Cabinet

The main roles:

### August 1931 – November 1931

* Ramsay MacDonald – Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
* Lord Sankey – Lord Chancellor
* Stanley Baldwin – Lord President
* Philip Snowden – Chancellor of the Exchequer
* Sir Herbert Samuel – Home Secretary
* Lord Reading – Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Lords
* Sir Samuel Hoare – Secretary for India
* J.H. Thomas – Dominions Secretary and Colonial Secretary
* Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister – President of the Board of Trade
* Neville Chamberlain – Minister of Health

#### Key

* = Member of National Labour
* = Member of the Conservative Party
* = Member of the Liberal Party

## Members of the Ministry

The First National Government was composed of members of the following parties:
* National Labour
* Conservative Party
* Liberal Party
Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.
| Office | Name | Party | Party | Dates |
| Prime Minister | Ramsay MacDonald | | National Labour | 24 August 1931 – 5 November 1931 |
| Lord Chancellor | Lord Sankey | | National Labour | 25 August 1931 |
| Lord President of the Council | Stanley Baldwin | | Conservative | 25 August 1931 |
| Lord Privy Seal | Earl Peel | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | Philip Snowden | | National Labour | 25 August 1931 |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury | Sir Bolton Eyres-Monsell | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| Financial Secretary to the Treasury | Walter Elliot | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| Lords of the Treasury | David Margesson | | Conservative | 26 August 1931 – 10 November 1931 |
| Lords of the Treasury | Sir Frederick Penny | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 – 12 November 1931 |
| Lords of the Treasury | Alec Glassey | | Liberal | 14 September 1931 – 12 November 1931 |
| Lords of the Treasury | Marquess of Titchfield | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 – 12 November 1931 |
| Lords of the Treasury | Euan Wallace | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 – 12 November 1931 |
| Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | Marquess of Reading | | Liberal | 25 August 1931 |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | Anthony Eden | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| Secretary of State for the Home Department | Sir Herbert Samuel | | Liberal | 25 August 1931 |
| Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department | Oliver Stanley | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| First Lord of the Admiralty | Sir Austen Chamberlain | | Conservative | 25 August 1931 |
| Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty | Earl Stanhope | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries | Sir John Gilmour | | Conservative | 25 August 1931 |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries | vacant | vacant | vacant | |
| Secretary of State for Air | Lord Amulree | | National Labour | 25 August 1931 |
| Under-Secretary of State for Air | Sir Philip Sassoon | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| Secretary of State for the Colonies | James Henry Thomas | | National Labour | 25 August 1931 |
| Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies | Sir Robert William Hamilton | | Liberal | 3 September 1931 |
| Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs | James Henry Thomas | | National Labour | 25 August 1931 |
| Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs | Malcolm MacDonald | | National Labour | 3 September 1931 |
| President of the Board of Education | Sir Donald Maclean | | Liberal | 25 August 1931 |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education | Sir Kingsley Wood | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| Minister of Health | Neville Chamberlain | | Conservative | 25 August 1931 |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health | Ernest Simon | | Liberal | 22 September 1931 |
| Secretary of State for India | Sir Samuel Hoare | | Conservative | 25 August 1931 |
| Under-Secretary of State for India | vacant | vacant | vacant | |
| Minister of Labour | Sir Henry Betterton | | Conservative | 25 August 1931 |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour | Milner Gray | | Liberal | 3 September 1931 |
| Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | Marquess of Lothian | | Liberal | 25 August 1931 |
| Paymaster General | Sir Tudor Walters | | Liberal | 4 September 1931 |
| Minister for Pensions | George Tryon | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions | vacant | vacant | vacant | |
| Postmaster-General | William Ormsby-Gore | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| Assistant Postmaster-General | Graham White | | Liberal | 3 September 1931 |
| Secretary of State for Scotland | Sir Archibald Sinclair | | Liberal | 25 August 1931 |
| Under-Secretary of State for Scotland | Noel Skelton | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| President of the Board of Trade | Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister | | Conservative | 25 August 1931 |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade | Gwilym Lloyd George | | Liberal | 3 September 1931 |
| Secretary for Overseas Trade | Sir Edward Young | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| Secretary for Mines | Isaac Foot | | Liberal | 3 September 1931 |
| Minister of Transport | John Pybus | | Liberal | 3 September 1931 |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport | George Gillett | | National Labour | 4 September 1931 |
| Secretary of State for War | Marquess of Crewe | | Liberal | 26 August 1931 |
| Under-Secretary of State for War | vacant | vacant | vacant | |
| Financial Secretary to the War Office | Alfred Duff Cooper | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| First Commissioner of Works | Marquess of Londonderry | | Conservative | 25 August 1931 |
| Attorney General | Sir William Jowitt | | National Labour | 3 September 1931 |
| Solicitor General | Sir Thomas Inskip | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| Lord Advocate | Craigie Mason Aitchison | | National Labour | 3 September 1931 |
| Solicitor General for Scotland | John Charles Watson | | National Labour | 4 September 1931 |
| Treasurer of the Household | Sir George Hennessy, Bt | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |
| Comptroller of the Household | Goronwy Owen | | Liberal | 14 September 1931 |
| Vice-Chamberlain of the Household | Sir Frederick Charles Thomson | | Conservative | 3 September 1931 |