MacDONALD’S MINISTRY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 684, 8 June 1929, Page 1

MacDONALD’S MINISTRY

Liberal Joins Government

BRITAIN’S FIRST WOMAN MINISTER

Sidney Webb for Dominions

GREAT BRITAIN’S new Ministry has been announced by the Rt. Hon. Ramsay MacDonald. It includes the first woman Minister to be included in a British Cabinet. Miss Margaret Bondfield is to be Minister of Labour. The Rt. Hon. Sidney Webb, the well-known economist, is to be Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs. He will probably be given a seat in the House of Lords. The Liberal, Mr. W. A. Jowitt, K.C., has joined the Labour Government and becomes Attorney-General.

Reed. 11.40 a.m. RUGBY, Friday, t The list of the new Labour Government is as follows: Prime Minister: The Rt. Hon. J. Ramsay MacDonald. Chancellor of the Exchequer: Mr. Philip Snowden. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs: Mr. Arthur Henderson. Lord Privy Seal: Mr. J. H. Thomas. Secretary of State for the Dominions and Colonies: Mr. Sidney Webb. Lord President of the Council: Lord Parmoor. Lord Chancellor: Lord Justice Sanof State for Home Affairs: Mr. J. R- Clynes. Secretary of State for India: Captain Wedgwood Benn. Secretary for War: Mr. Thomas Shaw. Secretary for Air: Lord Thomson. Minister of Health: Mr. Arthur Greenwood. Minister of Labour: Miss Margaret Bondfield. Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries: Mr. Noel Buxton. President of the Board of Education: Sir Charles P. Trevelyan. President of the Board of Trade. Mr. William Graham. First Lord of the Admiralty: Mr. Albert V. Alexander. Secretary of State for Scotland: Mr. William Adamson. First Commissioner of Works: Mr. George Lansbury. All the above appointments carry ; with them seats in the Cabinet. Other Ministerial posts announced j are: — Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: Sir Oswald Mosley. Attorney-General: Mr. A. Jowitt, King’s Counsel. Solicitor-General: Mr. J. B. Melville. King’s Counsel. _ Minister of Pensions: Mr. r. O. Roberts. TT . , Minister of Transport: Mr. Herbeit Morrison. Parliamentary Under-Secretary toi Scotland: Mr. Tom Johnston. Postmaster-General: Mr. H. B. LeeSmith. , . ~ Paymaster-General: Lord Arnold (without pay). , , . Mr. MacDonald’s Cabinet-making has followed the expected lines, with one noteworthy surprise, so complete that the political tipsters’ lists during the Whole week left the Dominions Office blank. It was known that Mr. Thomas wanted something bigger than his old office —indeed he aspired to the Foreign Office —but when ne vielded to Mr. MacDonald’s blandishment that the big job of unemployment wanted a big man with vision and initiative, it caused a recasting ot the political guessing, with no one in the offing to fill the Dominions blank. There was never a breath of a suggestion that Mr. Sidney Webb would be serected. His Majesty dressed anu received the Baldwin Cabinet in the audience chamber with full ceremonial. Mr. Sidney Webb’s lack of a Parliamentary seat will be overcome by his elevation to the peerage. Members of the former Cabinet handed over the seals of office to hts Majesty at Windsor Castle at 4 o’clock, and took formal leave of the King.

Commoner "crossing the floor” within a week of the election. Mr. Jowitt has offered to resign the Preston seat and contest it again as a Labour candidate, but it is understood that he will not be asked to resign if he undertakes to stand for Labour at the next election, and not to contest Preston again. He has given this undertaking. The Liberals had no knowledge during the pre-election proceedings that Mr. Jowitt was likely to become a member of the Labour Ministry. One of the most influential Labourites said: “At least seven or eight more Liberals are sure to ccme over to the side of moderate Labour in the next few months. Our next job is to put the Liberals out of existence, based on the idea that the Liberals must either come to us or go

to the Conservatives.” It is claimed that Mr. Jowitt was elected by the aid of Labour votes. The post is one of very great importance, and involves almost invariablv elose and confidential relations with the Government. It can hardly be regarded as a simple legal office.

In the last Government, for instance, Sir Douglas Hogg as AttorneyGeneral led the House of Commons on the most important occasions, such as long debates on the Trade Disputes Act, and he even deputised for the Prime Minister.