Philip Snowden: The First Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer

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In 1892, Fred Jowett (a member of the Independent Labour Party) became the first socialist to be elected to Bradford City Council. A few months later, Jowett founded a branch of the Independent Labour Party in that city. As a member of Bradford City Council, Jowett was responsible for the passage of several important reforms that were eventually adopted by other local authorities. In 1904, for instance, Bradford became the first local authority in Britain to provide free school meals, while a successful campaign led to the clearing of a slum area and its replacement with new houses. Jowett was also a supporter of reforming the 1834 Poor Law, and attempted to improve the quality of the food given to the children in the Bradford Workhouse after being elected as a Poor Law Guardian.

At the 1983 election, Labour suffered a landslide defeat, winning only 27.6% of the vote and securing just 209 seats. This was their worst performance at a general election since 1918. Labour won only half a million votes more than the SDP-Liberal Alliance, which had attracted the votes of many moderate Labour supporters, although the Alliance only won 23 seats. Michael Foot criticised the Alliance for "siphoning" Labour support and allowing the Tories to win more seats. What is Clause IV and why is it so divisive?". The Independent. 9 August 2015 . Retrieved 18 December 2017. The Supplementary Benefits Act 1976 introduced new levels of financial support for those on little or no income, [123] while new benefits were introduced for those with disabilities. [124] For families with children, the system of child cash and tax allowances was replaced in 1977 by a universal Child Benefit for all families with at least one child, [125] For those at work, a supplementary pension scheme was introduced to provide members of the workforce with an additional income in retirement. [126] The manifesto contained pledges for abolition of the House of Lords, unilateral nuclear disarmament, withdrawal from the European Economic Community, withdrawal from NATO and a radical and extensive extension of state control over the economy and financial institutions. [137]Main article: Labour Representation Committee (1900) Keir Hardie, one of the Labour Party's founders and its first leader

Frank Bealey, "The Electoral Arrangement between the Labour Representation Committee and the Liberal Party," Journal of Modern History 28#4 (1956), pp. 353–373 in JSTOR The Labour Party won the 1997 general election with a landslide majority of 179; it was the largest Labour majority ever, and the largest swing to a political party achieved since 1945. Over the next decade, a wide range of progressive social reforms were enacted, [148] [149] [150] with millions lifted out of poverty during Labour's time in office largely as a result of various tax and benefit reforms. [151] [152] [153] Labour's time in office also saw a steady rise in living standards, with real earnings for all employees going up by about 18% between 1997 and 2009. [154]For much of the remaining Parliament the government followed stricter controls in public spending and the necessary austerity measures caused consternation amongst the Party membership and the trade unions.

The actions of the trade unions during the Winter of Discontent were used by Margaret Thatcher's government to justify anti-trade union legislation during the 1980s. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and eventual Great Depression occurred soon after the government came to power, and the crisis hit Britain hard. By the end of 1930 the unemployment rate had doubled to over two and a half million. [36] The Catering Wages Act (1943), another initiative by Bevin, established a Catering Wages Commission to oversee wages and working conditions in restaurants and hotels. Inspectors were also appointed to ensure that employers complied with Bevin's insistence on the provision of canteens, welfare officers, and personnel officers in factories. [73] Bevin also did much to improve conditions for those with disabilities, of which little had been done for before the outbreak of the war. In 1941, Bevin introduced an interim retraining scheme, which was followed by the interdepartmental Tomlinson Committee of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement of the Disabled. According to the historian Pat Thane, the Committee served as "a mouthpiece for Bevin's own aspirations," and its proposals for improving the lives of the disabled culminated in the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944. [77] Main article: Shadow Cabinet of Michael Foot Michael Foot, leader of the party in opposition (1980–83) The Second World War also saw significant improvements in the position of trade unions, which were encouraged by Bevin. Trade unions were integrated into joint consultation at all levels of government and industry, with the TUC drawn in to represent labour on the National Joint Advisory Council (1939) and the joint Consultative Committee (1940). A similar status was bestowed upon employers' organisations, which led Middlemass to argue that capital and organised labour had become "governing institutions" within a tripartite industrial relations system "with the state at the fulcrum." The elevation of the status of organised labour to one of parity with capital in Whitehall was effectively summed up by Bevin's biographer as such:Main articles: Labour Party leadership of Ed Miliband and Shadow Cabinet of Ed Miliband Ed Miliband, leader of the party in opposition (2010–2015) The party's move to the left in the early 1980s led to the decision by a number of centrist party members led by the Gang of Four of former Labour cabinet ministers ( Shirley Williams, Bill Rodgers, Roy Jenkins, and David Owen) to form the breakaway Social Democratic Party (SDP) on 25 January 1981. The broader aims of the party were set out in the Limehouse Declaration the following day. [134] At the end of 1940, Arthur Greenwood was given the task of planning, in Churchill's words, "a number of practical steps which it is indispensable to take if our society is to move forward." In June 1941, in response to arguments by the Trades Union Congress that there existed inadequacies with the country's system of social insurance, Greenwood set up an Interdepartmental Committee on Social Insurance and Allied Services to look into the state of Britain's social welfare programmes, and see where improvements may be made. Greenwood appointed a Liberal, William Beveridge, chairman of the committee. [53]