The “on behalf of” Labour Party

It was founded as the party of working people, so why are Labour’s prospective MPs more middle-class than ever before?

NINETY-NINE YEARS AGO, IN JANUARY 1924, Ramsay MacDonald, “bastard son of a Scottish farmgirl”, became Prime Minister, the first leader of the Labour Party to do so. Next year, Sir Keir Starmer may well mark the centenary by returning Labour to power. Given the scale of the swing he requires, Starmer could find himself in a similar situation to his predecessor. Short of a parliamentary majority, MacDonald was only able to form his Labour government with the Westminster acquiescence of the Liberal Party. Back in 1924, few could have mistaken the party of the workers for that of the Liberals. Despite realising the potential for harnessing newly enfranchised working class votes, Gladstonian Liberal efforts to support trade union-backed coal miners and manual workers as candidates under Liberal auspices foundered. The…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2023

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