Ramsay MacDonald

Expelled for crossing. Labour's first prime minister agreed in August 1931 to lead a National Government with the Conservatives and Liberals to impose spending cuts during the financial crisis. Labour expelled him, and at the October 1931 election the National Government won 554 seats while Labour was reduced to 52. He stayed prime minister until 1935 as an increasingly isolated figure in a Conservative-dominated coalition, and in Labour memory 'MacDonald' became a byword for betrayal.