Reginald Bassett (25 June 1901 – 9 July 1962) was an English historian and Professor of Political Science at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. Having left school to become a solicitor's clerk, at the age of 25 Bassett won a scholarship to study for a diploma at

Ruskin College, Oxford Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

, and from there proceeded to

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

.BASSETT, Reginald, 1901-1962, Professor of Political Science

Jisc Jisc is a United Kingdom not-for-profit company that provides network and IT services and digital resources in support of further and higher education institutions and research as well as not-for-profits and the public sector. History T ...

, retrieved 20 July 2018. He was a lecturer under the Extra-Mural Studies Delegacy of the University of Oxford, lecturing mainly in Sussex. From 1945-50 he was a tutor at the London School of Economics for a course designed for students from trade unions. He was lecturer in political science from 1950 to 1953, Reader in Political Science from 1953 to 1961, and Professor of Political Science from 1961 to 1962. Bassett was a member of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

. In 1931 he supported

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

's decision to a form the National Government with the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

and the Liberals. He later published a detailed history of the crisis of 1931, challenging the left-wing interpretation of it as a plot. His famous 1948 article on

Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...

's "confession" of November 1936 challenged the view of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

, who claimed in his

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

that Baldwin had admitted that an election fought on

rearmament Rearmament may refer to: *German re-armament (''Aufrüstung''), the growth of the German military in contravention of the Versailles treaty (1930s) *British re-armament, the modernisation of the British military in response to German re-armament ( ...

in 1935 would have been lost. Bassett proved that Baldwin was instead talking about 1933/34 when the public mood favoured disarmament, as revealed by the East Fulham by-election.Reginald Bassett, ‘Telling the truth to the people: the myth of the Baldwin "confession"’, ''Cambridge Journal'', II (1948), pp. 84-95.

Works

*''The Essentials of Parliamentary Democracy'' (1935). *''Democracy and Foreign Policy'' (1952). *''Nineteen Thirty-one: Political Crisis'' (1958).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassett, Reginald 1901 births 1962 deaths English political scientists 20th-century English historians Alumni of Ruskin College Alumni of New College, Oxford 20th-century political scientists