Ramsay MacDonald’s Labour government of 1924 consisted, as governments had for generations, of twenty white, middle-aged men with a Christian background.
But that is where the similarities with previous governments ended, for the election of Britain’s first Labour administration witnessed a radical departure from government by the ruling class.
A majority of the new cabinet had left full time education by the time they were fifteen.Two were illegitimate, one was a foundling, three were from Irish immigrant families, another three had worked in coal mines before they were teenagers. The Men of 1924 is a vivid portrayal of the years preceding, and the arrival of, the first Labour government and the new breed of politician it heralded.