Journal articles: c.1924-31

Martin Pugh

"CLASS TRAITORS": CONSERVATIVE RECRUITS TO LABOUR, 1900-30.
English Historical Review (1998) 113(450): pp.38-64.

Suggests that many Conservatives joined Labour up to 1931 because of a growing acceptance of the involvement of the state, an endorsement of socialist ideology, and a desire to join Labour's dramatic rise in status from 1918 to 1924.

Andrew Thorpe

THE INDUSTRIAL MEANING OF "GRADUALISM": THE LABOUR PARTY AND INDUSTRY, 1918-1931.
Journal of British Studies (1996) 35(1): pp.84-113.

Failure of Labour's industrial policy during this period centred on its leaders' lack of advanced planning, relying on superficial plans that eventually failed.

Neil Riddell

"THE AGE OF COLE"? G. D. H. COLE AND THE BRITISH LABOUR MOVEMENT 1929-1933.
Historical Journal (1995) 38(4): pp.933-957.

Assesses the role and contribution of Cole's influence in the party during the 1920s and early 30s..

Rodney Lowe

THE CHALLENGE OF LABOUR: CLASS CONFLICT IN INTERWAR BRITAIN.
Modern History Review (1994) 6(1): pp.2-5.

Post WWI political upheaval contained by rise of Labour.

Noel Thompson

HOBSON AND THE FABIANS: TWO ROADS TO SOCIALISM.
History of Political Economy (1994) 26(2): pp.203-220.

Examines the implications for the party of its 1928 rejection of the liberal socialist political economy associated with J. A. Hobson.

Andrew Thorpe

THE 1931 CRISIS.
Modern History Review (1993) 5(2): pp.28-30.

Reveals how the 1931 collapse of Great Britain's Labour Party was a function of political developments from 1929 to 1931, failed campaign promises, and the onset of a severe economic crisis.

Philip Williamson.

THE KING, POLITICIANS AND THE 1931 CRISIS.
Modern History Review (1993) 5(2): pp.31-33.

Explores how King George V was involved in helping the Labour government deal with its economic and political crisis in 1931.

M.W.Hart

THE REALIGNMENT OF 1931.
Twentieth Century British History (1992) 3(2): pp.196-198.

Reviews Andrew Thorpe's The British General Election of 1931 (1991). Thorpe argues that there was a decisive shift against the Labour Party in this election attributable to other factors besides the economic crisis of July-October 1931, mainly the fragmentation of the Liberal Party.

Andrew Thorpe

ARTHUR HENDERSON AND THE BRITISH POLITICAL CRISIS OF 1931.
Historical Journal (1988) 31(1): pp.117-139.

Henderson supported MacDonald throughout the financial and political crisis of August until MacDonald and Snowden proposed cuts in unemployment benefits. He reluctantly forced MacDonald to resign from the government and from the leadership of the Labour Party.

Phillip Williamson

A "BANKERS' RAMP"? FINANCIERS AND THE BRITISH POLITICAL CRISIS OF AUGUST 1931.
English Historical Review 1984 99(393): pp.770-806.

Suggests that it was not the 'Bankers' who demanded the cuts in the 'dole' but the opposition parties according to MacDonald and Snowden.

Harold L.Smith

SEX VS. CLASS: BRITISH FEMINISTS AND THE LABOUR MOVEMENT, 1919-1929.
Historian (1984) 47(1): pp.19-37.

The Labour Party and trade union officials prevented working women from being drawn into the feminist movement even though women in both groups advocated birth control, family allowances, the right of married women to work, and equal pay. Officials were successful in suppressing feminist views among women in the movement.

G.A.Phillips

THE LABOUR PARTY AND THE GENERAL STRIKE.
Llafur (1977) 2(2): pp.44-58.

The General Strike was undertaken by the unions almost in isolation from the party and that the institutional links between the both were weak.

This page was last updated 29-07-04