Second MacDonald ministry
The second MacDonald ministry was formed by Ramsay MacDonald on his reappointment as prime minister of the United Kingdom by King George V on 5 June 1929. It was the second time the Labour Party had formed a government; the first MacDonald ministry held office in 1924.
Background
The 1929 general election resulted in a hung parliament, with no party achieving a substantial number of seats to form a parliamentary majority. Labour was the largest party with 287 seats, while the Conservative Party won the largest number of votes overall. This discrepancy between seat count and popular vote was caused by the electoral system of first-past-the-post, and also the constituency boundaries, which were largely unchanged since the Representation of the People Act 1918. Nonetheless, King George V invited Ramsay MacDonald back to form a government.The defeat of the Conservative Party has been attributed to its failure to reduce high unemployment, criticism of its handling of the General Strike, and the animosity caused by the Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927. For Labour, the election results were significant in that it not only became the largest party for the first time, but made inroads in county seats, while also capturing seats in London that it hadn’t held before like Acton and Romford. Altogether, Labour gained 28 seats in Greater London. It also performed well in Lancashire and Cheshire, with its representation increasing from 26 to 44 seats.
Both MacDonald and Baldwin shared a dislike for David Lloyd George, with the two of them agreeing during the election campaign while crossing at Crewe that it was desirable “to keep the Welshman out.” Despite this, Lloyd George agreed to support the government, but noted that "the very hour the Ministry becomes a Socialist administration its career ends."
In what was described as a “novel publicity stunt,” MacDonald named his team in front of talkie cameras that had been admitted into the garden at Downing Street.
Ideologically, the cabinet MacDonald appointed was for the most part a moderate one, with only one left-winger appointed. Its makeup was also similar to the 1924 cabinet, with 12 out of 19 cabinet ministers having served in the first, while four had held minor office in 1924.
Social policy
The government faced practical enforcement difficulties with its legislation, such as the Coal Mines Act 1930, which provided for a 7-hour daily shift in mines. Owners were guaranteed minimum coal prices through compulsory production quotas among collieries, thus doing away with cut-throat competition. This solution was introduced to prevent a fall in miners' wages. The act introduced a philanthropic cartel replacing the coal merchants' oligopoly to allocate production quotas by control of a central council, while a Mines Reorganisation Commission was established to encourage efficiency through amalgamations. Many mine owners variously offended these provisions due to Labour's lack of enforcement powers.The Land Utilisation Bill of 1931 would have given ministers sweeping powers to purchase land nationwide. It was mauled by the House of Lords and had no backing from the Treasury so reduced to limited powers to improve agricultural productivity and provide and subsidise smallholdings to the unemployed and agricultural workers, as the Agricultural Land Act 1931. Other legislation introduced include the Agricultural Marketing Act 1931 , Greenwood's Housing Act 1930 and the London Transport Bill 1931 — this was passed by a subsequent National government as the London Passenger Transport Act 1933. The Housing Act 1930 resulted in the demolition of 245,000 slums by 1939, and the construction of 700,000 new homes. The Housing Act 1930 also allowed local authorities to set up differential rent schemes, with rents related to the incomes of the tenants concerned.
Immediate measures carried out by the government upon taking office included the Development Act 1929 authorising grants up to £25 million and a further £25 million in guarantees for public works schemes designed to reduce unemployment, the parallel Colonial Development Act 1929 authorising grants up to £1 million a year for schemes in the colonies, a measure continuing at the existing levels the subsidies under the Housing Acts, which the Conservatives had threatened to reduce, and a removal of the appointed Guardians whom the Conservatives had put in office in place of the elected Boards in Bedwellty, Chester-le-Street, and Westham.
Expenditure on the insurance fund was raised as a means of ensuring that unemployed persons would not be reduced so quickly to poor relief. The Unemployment Insurance Act 1929 scrapped the "genuinely seeking work" clause in unemployment benefit, increased dependants' allowances, extended provision for the long-term unemployed, relaxed eligibility conditions, and introduced an individual means test. The Unemployment Insurance Act 1930 re-drafted the terms of benefit, so as to remove the major part of the grievance relating to the disqualification of persons alleged to be "not genuinely seeking work", which led to greater numbers of people acquiring unemployment assistance. It also increased insurance benefits for certain classes of unemployed who had been on a very low scale, and included a provision that claims for benefits could no longer be disallowed except on the authority of a Court of Referees. Altogether, an estimated 170,000 people were brought into benefit by the combined exchanges in the act. As a result of the changes made by the government to unemployment benefit provision, the number of people on transitional benefits rose from 120,000 in 1929 to more than 500,000 in 1931.
A scheme for training unemployed workers who had little chance of being reabsorbed into their previous occupations was extended, while arrangements were made whereby youths who were helping to support their families out of unemployment pay could live at either the training centres and have a special remittance of 9 shillings a week made to their homes. In addition, the provision of instruction for unemployed boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 18 was extended. To improve safety standards at sea, an international conference was convened by the Labour President of the Board of Trade, which led to 27 governments signing a convention establishing for the first time uniform safety rules for all the cargo ships throughout the world. Conditions for soldiers were improved, while the death penalty for certain offences was abolished. A seven-year limit in connection with war pensions was also removed, while a programme for afforestation was increased.
The Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act 1925 was amended to cover some hundreds of thousands of additional pensioners, under improved conditions, with the inclusion of widows between the ages of 55 and 70. Other measures carried out in 1929–30 included the Road Traffic Act 1930 , the Land Drainage Act, the Public Works Facilities Act 1930 , the Workmen's Compensation Act 1930 and the Mental Treatment Act 1930.
A town and country planning act gave local authorities more power to control local and regional planning, while the Housing Act 1931 provided a sum of £2 million to help the poorer rural districts which were willing but unable to fulfil their housing responsibilities. In addition, an act passed by the previous Conservative government providing assistance towards the improvement of privately owned cottages for land workers was extended for another five years. To protect farm workers from exploitation, additional inspectors were appointed in 1929 to investigate "cases of refusal to pay minimum wages," and as a result of the work carried out by these investigators, wage arrears were recovered for 307 workers with the space of a few months. In addition, levels of support for war veterans and family members were expanded.
In education, various measures were introduced to promote equality and opportunity. More generous standards of school-planning were secured, while special attention was given to the provision of adequate accommodation for practical work. The number of "black-listed" schools was reduced from about 2,000 to about 1,500. From 1929 to 1931, the number of certified teachers in service was increased by about 3,000, while the number of classes with more than 50 children was reduced by about 2,000. Capital expenditure on elementary school building approved by the Board of Education during 1930–1931 stood at over £9 million, more than double the amount approved during 1928–29, the Conservative government's last year in office. In addition, an annual grant to the universities was increased by £250,000. Various military reforms were carried out, with the raising of the minimum age of enrolment into Officers' Training Corps from 13 to 15, the abolition of the death penalty for certain offences, and the modification of the disciplinary code "in the direction of clemency."
A circular was issued that urged the need for an expansion of provisions for the health and welfare of children under the compulsory school age by the development of nursery schools and other services, and by April 1931, the amount of accommodation available in nursery schools was doubled. The number of staff in the school medical services was increased, while about 3,000 new places were provided in day and residential special schools for crippled or blind children and in open-air schools for delicate children. There was also a large increase in the number of meals supplied to school children, while support given by the government to the National Milk Publicity Council's scheme for supplying milk to children resulted in 600,000 children benefiting daily from this service. Technical education was developed and arrangements were made for co-operation between technical colleges and industry, while new regulations facilitated an expansion of adult education. In addition, the government increased the number of free places that local education authorities could offer to 50%.
The National Health Insurance Act 1930 extended provision of health insurance to unemployed males whose entitlement had run out, while the Poor Prisoners' Defence Act 1930 introduced criminal legal aid for appearances in magistrates' courts. The Housing Act 1930. A number of measures were also introduced to improve standards of health and safety in the workplace. As a means of improving industrial hygiene, regulations were introduced on 1 June 1931 that prescribed measures of hygiene for establishments engaged in electrolytic chromium plating, while regulations introduced on 28 April 1931 dealt with conditions in the refractory materials industries. On 24 February 1931, special regulations were issued by the Home Office for the prevention of accidents in the shipbuilding industry. The Hairdressers' and Barbers' Shops Act 1930 provided for the compulsory closing of hairdressers and barbers shops on Sundays and with certain exceptions provided that "no person may carry on the work of a hairdresser on Sunday." An order of February 1930 prescribed protective measures for cement workers, while an order of May 1930 contained provisions concerning the protection of workers in tanneries.
The Poor Law Act 1930 also encouraged local authorities "to work with a local voluntary group to find suitable employment for deaf people." The lid was kept on the ever present risk of a naval arms race, while the system of naval officer recruitment was reformed to make it less difficult for working-class sailors to secure promotion from the ranks. George Lansbury, the First Commissioner of Works, sponsored a "Brighter Britain" campaign and introduced a number of facilities in London parks such as mixed bathing, boating ponds, and swings and sandpits for children. A number of other initiatives were undertaken by the Office of Works, including extensions in the amenities of the parks and palaces under its charge, and the spending of thousands of pounds on various improvements for the preservation of memorials across the country, as characterised by the restoration of a castle at Porchester near Portsmouth.
In Scotland, various welfare initiatives were carried out by the Scottish Office. Medical services in the Highlands and Islands were extended and stabilised, while limits imposed by a previous Conservative administration on the scale of Poor Law relief were scrapped, along with a system of offering the Poor House "as test for able-bodied men who have been out of work for a long period."