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The Gladstone–MacDonald pact of 1903 was a secret informal electoral agreement negotiated by Herbert Gladstone, Liberal Party Chief Whip, and Ramsay MacDonald, Secretary of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC). The Liberal Party agreed to withdraw parliamentary candidates in some constituencies where the LRC was also standing in order to make sure the anti-Conservative vote was not split.

There was increasing tension between the Liberal Party and the LRC since the latter's formation in 1900. For example, in the by-election for Clitheroe in 1902, local cotton weavers refused to withdraw their candidate, David Shackleton, who was not an approved Lib-Lab candidate. Gladstone therefore withdrew the Liberal candidate and Shackleton was elected unopposed. This was one of the main reasons behind the formation of the pact.

In the general election of 1906, 31 of the 50 LRC candidates contested seats where the Liberals agreed not to put up a candidate. 24 of the 29 LRC MPs elected in that election were in seats where the Liberals did not stand. Eric J. Evans argues:

The MacDonald–Gladstone pact proved to be a turning point. It gave the LRC a bridgehead in parliament, with twenty-nine of its candidates elected in 1906. By the end of 1910, the Labour party (as it was known from 1906) had forty-two MPs. ... With the benefit of hindsight, the MacDonald–Gladstone pact looks to have been a tactical disaster for the Liberals. ... On deeper investigation, Gladstone's decision is defensible and might even have been the best option.

See also

• Lib–Lab pact

References

Footnotes

1. ^ Stephens 1982, p. 85.
2. Stephens 1982.
3. Bentley 1999, p. 232.
4. Pugh 2002, p. 117.
5. Evans 2013, p. 433.

Bibliography

• Bentley, Michael (1999) . Politics Without Democracy: England, 1815–1918 (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.
• Evans, Eric J. (2013) . The Shaping of Modern Britain: Identity, Industry and Empire 1780–1914. Abingdon, England: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315833606. ISBN 978-1-4082-2564-6.
• Pugh, Martin (2002). The Making of Modern British Politics, 1867–1945 (3rd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell.
• Stephens, Hugh W. (1982). "Partisan Realignment and Electoral Arrangement in Britain: The Macdonald–Gladstone Pact of 1903". Journal of Political Science. 9 (2): 81–91. ISSN 0098-4612. Retrieved 9 March 2021.

v t e Ramsay MacDonald
Premierships	Labour Government, 1924 Labour Government, 1929–1931 First National Government, 1931 Second National Government, 1931–1935
General elections	1923 1924 1929 1931 1935
Constituencies	Leicester Aberavon Seaham Combined Scottish Universities
Career	Gladstone–MacDonald pact 1922 party leadership election Campbell Case Defeat of the MacDonald ministry Zinoviev letter Great Depression London Naval Treaty India Round Table Conferences MacDonald Award National Government Anglo-German Naval Agreement
Family	Margaret Ethel MacDonald (wife) Malcolm MacDonald (son) Ishbel MacDonald (daughter) Sheila MacDonald (daughter)
Cultural depictions	Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (TV, 1981) Gandhi (Film, 1982) Number 10 (TV, 1983) Mosley (TV, 1998)
Related articles	1921 Woolwich East by-election 1936 Combined Scottish Universities by-election Lady Margaret Sackville MacDonald letter MV Reina del Pacifico National Labour Organisation

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