List of National Labour MPs explained

This is a list of National Labour MPs. It includes all members of Parliament who sat in the British House of Commons who were sponsored by the National Labour Organisation.

width=150	Member !	width=150	Constituency !	width=120	Start !	width=120	End !	Notes
		3 September 1931	2 October 1933	Originally elected as a Labour MP; appointed Lord Advocate in the National Government. Re-elected in the 1931 general election and served until he was appointed Lord Justice Clerk.
		1 September 1931	14 June 1945	Originally elected as a Labour MP. Announced his support for the National Government on 1 September 1931.^[1] Re-elected in the 1931 and 1935 general elections and served until the organisation was dissolved; defeated standing as a National candidate in the 1945 general election.
		8 September 1931	7 October 1931	Originally elected as a Labour MP. Initially sceptical,^[2] Church supported the Government once Parliament resumed.^[3] He was defeated in the 1931 general election, standing as a National candidate in London University.
		10 September 1931	14 June 1945	Originally elected as a Labour MP. Abstained in the first vote after the National Government was set up but announced his support shortly afterwards.^[4] Re-elected in the 1931 and 1935 general elections and served until the organisation was dissolved; retired at the end of the Parliament.
		27 October 1931	25 October 1935	Gained his seat from Labour in the 1931 general election. Retired at the end of the Parliament.
		31 August 1931	25 October 1935	Originally elected as a Labour MP; was a junior Minister in the Labour Government. Announced his support of the Government^[5] and was appointed to the National Government. Re-elected in the 1931 general election; defeated standing for re-election in 1935.
		23 September 1931	7 October 1931	Originally elected as a Labour MP. Away from Parliament after the death of his father, announced support for the National Government on his return.^[6] Not endorsed by the Conservatives, he was defeated for re-election in the 1931 general election.
		2 September 1931	25 October 1935	Originally elected as a Labour MP. Announced his support for the Government before Parliament resumed.^[7] Re-elected in the 1931 general election and retired at the end of the Parliament.
		28 August 1931	7 October 1931	Originally elected as a Liberal MP; after he was appointed to the Labour Government was re-elected as a Labour MP. Retained office in the National Government. Defeated standing for re-election in Combined English Universities at the 1931 general election. Subsequently rejoined the Labour Party and served again as a Labour MP from 1939 until given a Peerage in 1945.
		27 October 1939	23 February 1942	Elected in a by-election in a National Labour seat. Left the Parliamentary group to sit as an Independent.^[8] Defeated for re-election at the 1945 general election standing as a National Independent, opposed by the Conservatives.
		2 November 1933	28 May 1943	Elected in a by-election in a National Labour seat. Re-elected in the 1935 general election. Left the Parliamentary group to sit as an Independent,^[9] and re-elected as an Independent in Combined English Universities in the 1945 general election. Retired at the end of the Parliament.
		2 September 1931	18 March 1938	Originally elected as a Labour MP. Announced his support for the Government before Parliament resumed. Re-elected in the 1931 and 1935 general elections and served until his death.
		24 August 1931	25 October 1935	Originally elected as a Labour MP. As the son of Ramsay MacDonald, he was always bound to support his father.^[10] Re-elected in the 1931 election; defeated for re-election in the 1935 general election.
		10 February 1936	14 June 1945	Elected in a byelection in a Liberal National seat. Served until the organisation was dissolved. Retired at the end of the Parliament.
		24 August 1931	25 October 1935	Originally elected as a Labour MP. Formed the National Government. Re-elected in the 1931 election; defeated for re-election in the 1935 general election.
		31 January 1936	9 November 1937	Elected in a byelection in a Conservative seat. Served until his death.
		16 September 1931	7 October 1931	Originally elected as a Labour MP. Absent from the first votes after the National Government was set up but began supporting the Government later that month. Not endorsed by the Conservatives, he withdrew his bid for re-election in the 1931 general election.
		14 November 1935	14 June 1945	Elected in the 1935 general election, retaining a National Labour seat. Served until the organisation was dissolved. Defeated for re-election at the 1945 general election standing as a National candidate. Subsequently joined the Conservative Party and served as a Conservative MP for Buckingham from 1951 to 1964.
		14 November 1935	14 June 1945	Elected in the 1935 general election, gaining a seat from the Liberal Party. Served until the organisation was dissolved. Defeated for re-election at the 1945 general election standing as a National candidate.
		27 October 1931	25 October 1935	Gained his seat from Labour in the 1931 general election. Defeated for re-election at the 1935 general election.
		5 September 1931	11 October 1939	Originally elected as a Labour MP. Announced his support for the Government before Parliament returned.^[11] Re-elected in the 1931 and 1935 general elections and served until he resigned in order to retire.^[12]
		25 August 1931	7 October 1931	Originally elected as a Labour MP, was Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government. Re-appointed to office in the National Government but had already decided not to seek re-election.^[13]
		25 August 1931	11 June 1936	Originally elected as a Labour MP, was Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs in the Labour Government. Re-appointed to office in the National Government. Re-elected in the 1931 and 1935 general elections and served until he resigned over a financial scandal.
		27 October 1931	25 October 1935	Gained his seat from Labour in the 1931 general election. Defeated for re-election at the 1935 general election.

Abstainers

Five Labour MPs are known to have deliberately abstained from voting on 8 September 1931 in the first House of Commons division (vote) called after the formation of the National Government.^[14] Of the five, only one (Richard Denman) subsequently became a National Labour MP. The identities of the other four who had indicated a degree of alienation from the Labour Party and of support for the National Government, even if not committing themselves to it absolutely.

• Sir Ralph Norman Angell (Bradford North) voted against the Government in a division the following day, but announced his decision not to seek re-election on 24 September 1931 while stressing that he was not leaving the Labour Party.^[15]
• Edith Picton-Turbervill (The Wrekin) also voted against the Government in a division the following day. She was re-adopted as the Labour candidate for her constituency at the 1931 general election but was defeated for re-election.
• George Russell Strauss (Lambeth North) also voted against the Government in a division the following day. Although defeated for re-election in 1931, he returned in a 1934 by-election at which he defeated a National Labour candidate, and then served until he retired in 1979.
• Josiah Clement Wedgwood (Newcastle-under-Lyme) first voted against the Government on 14 September 1931. As a member of the Independent Labour Party he refused to sign a pledge to abide by the standing orders of the Parliamentary Labour Party and so fought for re-election without official endorsement at the 1931 general election, but was re-elected unopposed. He was readmitted to the PLP and served until elevated to the Peerage in 1942.

Graphical representation

Constituency	1931	1931	1933	1935	36	37	38	39	42	43
Cardiff Central	Bennett
Leeds Central	Denman
Nottingham South	Knight			Markham
Kilmarnock	Aitchison		Lindsay
Ormskirk	Rosbotham							King-Hall
Lichfield	Lovat-Fraser
Derby	Thomas
Finsbury	Gillett
Bassetlaw	M. MacDonald
Seaham	R. MacDonald
Wandsworth Central	Church
Liverpool Everton	Caine
Preston	Jowitt
Chatham	Markham
Colne Valley	Snowden
Ilkeston		Flint
Tottenham South		Palmer
Forest of Dean		Worthington
Leicester West				Nicolson
Ross and Cromarty					M. MacDonald
Combined Scottish Universities					R. MacDonald
No. of National Labour MPs	15	13	13	8	9	8	7	7	6	5

Notes and References

1. "Labour M.P.s' Support Of Mr. Macdonald", The Times, 2 September 1931, p. 14.
2. See his letter in The Times, 31 August 1931, p. 6, which casts doubt on the long-term future of the National Government and prophecies a Labour majority in the event of a snap election.
3. "Lobby Opinion", The Times, 9 September 1931, p. 12.
4. "Political Notes", The Times, 11 September 1931, p. 12.
5. "The Way Of Economy" (letter), The Times, 3 September 1931, p. 11.
6. "Labour Recruit For The Government", The Times, 24 September 1931, p. 9.
7. "Economy And New Taxes", The Times, 3 September 1931, p. 10.
8. "Cdr. King-Hall to sit as Independent M.P.", The Times, 24 February 1942, p. 2.
9. "Mr. K. Lindsay as Independent", The Times, 29 May 1943, p. 2.
10. "New Cabinet At Work", The Times, 27 August 1931, p. 10.
11. "Parliament To-Morrow", The Times, 7 September 1931, p. 10.
12. "Sir Thomas Rosbotham To Retire", The Times, 12 October 1939, p. 5.
13. "Mr. Snowden's Future", The Times, 29 August 1931, p. 10.
14. Andrew Thorpe, "The British General Election of 1931", Clarendon Press, 1991, p. 95.
15. The Times, 25 September 1931, p. 6.