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In May 1929, just 30 years after the party was formed, a Labour government took office in the UK. Actually they had also been in government for 10 months in 1924 but they hadn't won the most seats then and had needed support from the Liberals. They did win the most seats this time but still didn't have an overall majority. The Prime Minister was Ramsay McDonald, who you've probably guessed was a Scotsman. This was the first election when all women had the vote.
Unfortunately, for Labour, in October 1929 there was what has become known as the Wall Street Crash. Wall Street is home to the American stock market and, a bit like the South Sea bubble in 1721, people got worried and starting selling stock which they had invested in various companies. The panic was felt all around the world. The UK had only just got over the general strike and now a major economic depression was happening.
A depression usually happens when people stop spending and so the way out of a depression is to get people to spend again. In simple terms, if no one buys goods, the people who make them lose their jobs and they have less money and so they can't buy goods. If people have money to buy goods, people have to make those goods, they have a job, they get paid and then they spend money.
In the UK, at this time, unemployment began to rise. With less people in work the government had to pay out more benefits but received less income tax. So the government cut unemployment benefit and raised income tax. Not a great idea as that created more poverty.
By 1931 things were really bad and Ramsay McDonald quit the Labour Party and formed a National Government of which he remained Prime Minster though the Conservative Party now had 470 seats out of a possible 615. The Labour party split and McDonald's National Labour Party won 13 seats while the official Labour party won 46, a loss of 206 since the previous election.
The depression continued for some years.
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