William Adamson was born in Dunfermline, Scotland,
on 2nd April 1863. After being educated at a local dame school he
worked as a miner in Fife. He joined the National
Union of Mineworkers and became Assistant Secretary of Fife, Kinross
and Clackmannan Miners' Association (1902-1908).
A
member of the Labour Party, Adamson was
elected to the House of Commons in December
1910. Adamson became leader of the party in October 1917 and held
the post until February 1921 when he was replaced by Joseph
Clynes.
In
the 1923 General Election, the Labour
Party won 191 seats. Although the Conservatives
had 258, Ramsay MacDonald agreed to
head a minority government, and therefore became the first member
of the party to become Prime Minister. MacDonald appointed Adamson
as Secretary of State for Scotland. However, he only held the post
for eleven months as the Labour Party lost power in November 1924.
In the
1929 General Election the Labour Party won
288 seats, making it the largest party in the House
of Commons. MacDonald became Prime Minister again, but as before,
he still had to rely on the support of the Liberals
to hold onto power. Once
again MacDonald appointed Adamson as Secretary of State for Scotland.
The election
of the Labour Government in 1929 coincided
with an economic depression and Ramsay
MacDonald was
faced with the problem of growing unemployment. MacDonald asked Sir
George May, to form a committee to look into Britain's economic problem.
When the May Committee produced its report in July, 1931, it suggested
that the government should reduce its expenditure by £97,000,000,
including a £67,000,000 cut in unemployment benefits. MacDonald,
and his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip
Snowden, accepted the report but when the matter was discussed
by the Cabinet, the majority voted against the measures suggested
by Sir George May.
Ramsay
MacDonald was
angry that his Cabinet had voted against him and decided to resign.
When he saw George V that night, he was
persuaded to head a new coalition government that would include Conservative
and Liberal leaders as well as Labour
ministers. Most of the Labour Cabinet totally rejected the idea and
only three, Philip Snowden, Jimmy
Thomas and John Sankey agreed to join
the new government.
MacDonald was determined to continue and his National Government introduced
the measures that had been rejected by the previous Labour Cabinet.
Labour MPs were furious with what had happened and MacDonald was expelled
from the Labour Party.
In October, MacDonald called an election. The 1931
General Election was a disaster for the Labour
Party with only 46 members winning their seats. Adamson also lost
his seat in West Fife. William Adamson died
on 23rd February 1936.
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