Labour spends much of the thirties re-grouping from the disastrous effects of MacDonald's betrayal and the party's dire performance at the 1931 election.

With most of its leading lights losing their seats, the party found itself hamstrung and facing an uphill battle with the voters to convince them a return to power would see better results than those of the 1929-1931 administration.

Labour stages a mild recovery at the polls in 1935 under stop-gap leader Clement Attlee. And at grassroots level the party builds a strong record in local government, particularly in London.

Under Attlee, Labour, which includes a pacifist following, hesitated before falling in line behind a policy of rearmament and rejecting the Tories' appeasement of Hitler's Nazi Germany. Despite gradual recovery, Labour looks a long way from a return to office. Once more, war is to have a dramatic effect on the party's fortunes.