Henderson resigned the Party Secretaryship, with great reluctance, in July 1934, his resignation to take effect from the end of the year. The obvious choice as his successor was Morrison; yet many doubted the wisdom of having a prominent politician as Secretary. It was argued that the Party Secretaryship should be a full-time job, and hinted privately that Morrison would use the position to exercise a dominating influence. But it was Conference, not rivals on the NEC, which scotched Morrison's chances. The NEC confined itself to recommending that the office should not be held by anyone holding Ministerial rank in a Labour Government. This would have left it open for Morrison to be Secretary, and resign if Labour won a majority. However an amendment at the Southport Party Conference that the Secretary should be ineligible to sit in Parliament was carried against the platform by 1449000 to 841000 – indicating what the trade unions felt on the matter.

The result was that the loyal but ineffective Jimmy Middleton, who had started as part-time assistant to MacDonald in 1903, was narrowly elected Secretary in December 1934. Middleton introduced few reforms at Transport House; and the tradition of staff appointments to the Secretaryship which has been followed ever since has not been the best recipe for dynamism. The ‘penny farthing machine’ which Wilson exposed in the fifties is one consequence of the decision of 1934.

FOREIGN POLICY AND THE LEADERSHIP

Lansbury's position as Party Leader became increasingly difficult during 1935. Until 1934 his pacifism had not been an insuperable problem. Thereafter the heightening of international tensions made it so.