Ramsay Macdonald's Betrayal of His Party in 1931

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Ramsay Macdonald's Betrayal of His Party in 1931 In 1931, Ramsay Macdonald resigned from his position as leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minster of Britain, to take up a position a few days later as the leader of the new National Government set up to run the country, and thus becoming the countries leader again. Many have claimed that he betrayed the Labour Party by leaving them so he could join another party in a better position; in other words he was motivated by personal ambition. This theory can only be proven if it was known whether or not Ramsay Macdonald knew if he was going to remain Prime Minister at the time when he resigned Labour from power. One view of Ramsay Macdonald's resignation is that he resigned from the leadership to save the party. He realised that he could take the party no further for the time being, and pre-empting future embarrassments resigned the party from power to save face and keep their reputation intact. It is obvious his main thinking behind this was the rising unemployment in Britain, which was on the verge of spiralling out of control at the time. Not forgetting that Ramsay Macdonald was one of the founding members of the Labour Party and so presumable would not want to see it fail, this argument seems feasible. However, this view is not widely accepted by many modern historians. Historian Norman Lowe accuses Macdonald of being: 'vain, ambitious and out of touch with the grass-roots of the party' Ramsay Macdonald can only truly be judged as a traitor if he knew before the National Government was formed that he would be heading it. We can look at the facts to determine the truth. Macdonald would have known his name would be mud, and in a job like an MP where reputation is everything, crossing the floor so dramatically would surely have been a last resort to gain power. But was it his only resort? Historian David Marquand feels Macdonald didn't know he would remain Prime Minister at the time he resigned Labour from power, but was:

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