Brief Labour
22 January 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Labour government, something the party might want to celebrate, even see as a good omen. Except that Ramsay MacDonald’s minority administration lasted only nine months.
– If Rishi Sunak wanted to be mischievous, he could choose 31 October as election day – the closest Thursday to 29 October, the date the Conservatives, under Stanley Baldwin, regained power with a thumping majority of 209. Labour had been brought down by a vote of confidence after the government withdrew a prosecution under the Incitement to Mutiny Act against John Ross Campbell, editor of the communist Workers’ Weekly. Campbell had written an open letter to servicemen, imploring them to: ‘Refuse to shoot down your fellow workers! Refuse to fight for profits! Turn your weapons on your oppressors!’
A century on
Some other 100th anniversaries in 2024:
– 21 January: Death of Vladimir Lenin (Petrograd was renamed Leningrad within a week).
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