II.

Founding and Early Development

The party originated in 1900, when the Trades Union Congress at Plymouth adopted a resolution calling for a conference of trade unions, as well as socialistic, cooperative, and other labor bodies, to consider the problem of securing adequate parliamentary representation for labor. The conference, held in 1906, created a committee, known as the Labour Representation Committee, under the secretaryship of the British statesman James Ramsay MacDonald. Its objective was to secure the election of candidates identified with labor interests or to support candidates sympathetic to labor. The committee was composed primarily of representatives of the trade unions, but the Fabian Society and the Independent Labour Party were each given one representative on the executive committee. The Labour Party officially formed under its present name after the 1906 general election, when 29 members of Parliament joined the small independent Labour group in the House of Commons. In 1924 Labour formed a short-lived government from January to November. The party regained power in June 1929, but its leaders were absorbed into a coalition government in August 1931. This was followed by a series of governments formed by the Conservative Party until the end of World War II in 1945.

Party leader Clement Attlee led Labour to a remarkable victory in May 1945. The Labour government immediately undertook a broad program of socialization. The Bank of England, the iron-and-steel industry, railroads, coal mines, and other industries were nationalized; and legislation providing for a comprehensive, cradle-to-the-grave social security program was enacted. Most significant of the social programs was the establishment of the National Health Service. The Labour Party remained in power following elections in February 1950, with a majority of only 10 seats. Emergence of a left-wing faction within the party weakened Prime Minister Attlee’s tenuous control of Parliament. The popular support of Labour declined, enabling the Conservatives to win by a slim margin in the elections of October 1951. The Labour Party, headed by Harold Wilson, regained control of the government by a margin of four seats in the elections of October 1964, and expanded its majority to 97 seats in the elections of 1966. Labour lost in 1970 and remained in opposition until March 1974, when a minority government was formed by Wilson. New elections in October gave the party a scant majority.