A Hundred Years of Labour Governments

LABOUR EMERGED AS ONE OF THE TWO main parties of government just over 100 years ago, when the first Labour government took office in 22 January 1924. That Labour government was short-lived, lasting until November 1924, but it established the principle that the party could govern and that ministers drawn from the working class could occupy power with as much right as ministers drawn from the middle and upper classes. With the live prospect of the election of another Labour government in a few weeks, it is a good moment to reflect on what 100 years of Labour governments can tell us about Labour's past and what an incoming Labour government can learn from the experience of its predecessors.