Episodes
| First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 20240115 | 20240117 (R4) |
It's a hundred years since Ramsay MacDonald assumed office as Labour's first Prime Minister. The illegitimate son of a farm labourer and servant girl, he was the lowest born of any PM, and brought with him a Cabinet including miners, railwaymen and steel workers the like of which had never been seen in British government. Would this result in Britain being transformed into a proletarian utopia, as many in the upper classes genuinely feared? Or would idealism give way to moderation as Labour sought to prove it wasn't, in Winston Churchill's words, unfit to govern?
With contributions from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Ramsay's granddaughter Iona Kielhorn, and historians Richard Toye and Anne Perkins.
Presenter: David Torrance
Producer: Liza Greig
Executive Producer: Elizabeth Clark
BBC Scotland Productions
In 1924, Ramsay MacDonald has to choose between radicalism and respectability.
David Torrance assesses Ramsay MacDonald as the first Labour prime minister in 1924, exploring how he navigates the tensions between radicalism and respectability within the party.
| First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 20240115 | 20240117 (R4) |