Ramsay MacDonald
Macdonald, (James) Ramsay (1866-1937). British statesman. He joined the Independent Labour party in 1894, soon after its foundation, and became an MP in 1906. Having become party leader in 1911, he was forced to resign this position after opposing Britain’s entry into World War I. He regained the leadership (1922) and in 1924 became prime minister of the first British Labour government, which fell later that year. He returned to office in 1929 and from 1931 served as prime minister in the mainly Conservative ‘National’ government, having split with the Labour party he had helped to found. He retired from office in 1935.
