The 1922 Labour Party leadership election was the first leadership election for the posts of chairman and leader of the Parliamentary
Labour Party. Previously the position had been simply the "Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party".
The election took place when the incumbent chairman
J. R. Clynes was challenged by the former leader
Ramsay MacDonald. MacDonald opposed the way Clynes led the party.
Candidates
*
John Clynes, incumbent
leader of the Labour Party, Member of Parliament (MP) for
Manchester Platting
*
Ramsay MacDonald, former
leader of the Labour Party, MP for
Aberavon
Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distr ...
Result
Ramsay MacDonald was elected in a single ballot of Labour MPs on 14 December.
Aftermath
After the election Clynes was given the newly created office of
deputy leader of the Labour Party. As Labour leader, MacDonald became
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
in 1924 and from 1929 to 1931, at which point he became head of a
National Government that was opposed by the bulk of the Labour Party. He was succeeded as party leader by
Arthur Henderson
Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of th ...
. MacDonald was subsequently expelled from the party. In 1932,
George Lansbury
George Lansbury (22 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician and social reformer who led the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935. Apart from a brief period of ministerial office during the Labour government of 1929–31, he spe ...
became leader unopposed, as one of the few experienced Labour MPs left in Parliament, but trades union opposition to his pacifism led to his resignation in 1935 and replacement by his deputy
Clement Attlee. A month later Attlee was challenged in a
new election.
References
*
1922
Events
January
* January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes.
* January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...
1922 elections in the United Kingdom
Ramsay MacDonald
Labour Party leadership election (UK)
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