William Adamson (2 April 1863 – 23 February 1936) was a Scottish trade unionist and Labour politician. He was Leader of the Labour Party from 1917 to 1921 and served as

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

in 1924 and during 1929–1931 in the first two Labour ministries headed by

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 ...

Background

Adamson was born in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Acco ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

, and was educated at a local

dame school Dame schools were small, privately run schools for young children that emerged in the British Isles and its colonies during the early modern period. These schools were taught by a “school dame,” a local woman who would educate children f ...

. He worked as a miner in Fife where he became involved with the National Union of Mineworkers. In 1902–08 he was Assistant Secretary of the

Fife and Kinross Miners' Association The Fife and Kinross Miners' Association was a coal miners' trade union based in Fife and Kinross-shire in Scotland. History The union was founded in 1869 or 1870, and proved immediately successful by achieving the eight-hour day for miners ...

,Spartacus-educational.com William Adamson
and he thereafter served as its General Secretary.David Howell, Adamson, William illie(1863–1936), ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''

Political career

Active with the new Labour Party, Adamson was first elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

for West Fife in the

December 1910 general election The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the First World War. The election took place following the efforts o ...

. His victory was the only Labour gain from the Liberals in that election. Adamson was elected Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party on 24 October 1917, a post he held until 1921. He led the party into the general election of 1918, which saw Labour gain 15 seats and become the largest opposition party in the House of Commons for the first time; however, there remained uncertainty as to whether Adamson or the leader of the independent Liberals, Donald Maclean could claim to be the true

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the Commons. In 1918 he was sworn into the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

. In 1919, Adamson was confident that the experience of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

would "produce a different atmosphere and an entirely different relationship amongst all sections of our people" and would act as a watershed in the process of social reform. He served as

Secretary for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

and

in 1924 and between 1929 and 1931 in the Labour governments of

. However, he split with MacDonald after the formation of the National Government. Adamson lost his seat in the 1931 election which he contested for Labour against MacDonald's coalition. He stood again in the 1935 election but again failed to take the seat, losing on this occasion to William Gallacher of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

Personal life

The grave of William Adamson MP, Dunfermline Cemetery

Adamson was married to Christina Myles Marshall (1862–1935), a factory worker, with whom he had two daughters and two sons; one of the latter was killed during the

. Adamson died in February 1936, aged 72. He is buried in

Cemetery, just north of the roundel at the end of the entrance avenue.

References

*Torrance, David, ''The Scottish Secretaries'' (Birlinn 2006)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, William 1863 births 1936 deaths Scottish Labour MPs Politicians from Dunfermline British Secretaries of State Leaders of the Labour Party (UK) Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Fife constituencies Miners' Federation of Great Britain-sponsored MPs Scottish Baptists UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 20th-century Scottish politicians