First Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald

Great Lives - A podcast by BBC Radio 4

Ramsay Macdonald, Labour's first Prime Minister, chosen by Shaun Ley. In 1931 Ramsay MacDonald went to see the king in order to resign. George V persuaded him to stay, and a story of party betrayal began. Broadcaster Shaun Ley and journalist Anne Perkins pick though events that have a contemporary ring as the political class of the thirties struggled to cope with fast moving events. MacDonald's own story and background is remarkable too - illegitimate son, born in Lossiemouth in Scotland, he is remembered as one of the early founding fathers of the Labour party, and a man who bravely spoke out against the First World War. The presenter is Mathew Parris, the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.