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The first Labour government of the United Kingdom lasted from January to November 1924. The Labour Party, under James Ramsay MacDonald, had won the general election of December 1923, winning 151 seats, although the Conservative government under Stanley Baldwin was not dissolved immediately since Labour did not possess a majority in the House of Commons. The Conservatives had won the previous general election held shortly after the fall of the Lloyd George Coalition where, along with their Unionist allies, they had won 344 seats. This seemed a significant enough majority to expect a full-parliamentary term. Nevertheless, shortly afterwards the Conservative leader, Andrew Bonar Law, died, and was replaced by Baldwin, who reneged on his predecessor's electoral pledge not to introduce protective tariffs. As such, Baldwin had to seek a fresh mandate from the electorate. The result was a decisive indictment against protectionism. Baldwin had little chance of remaining prime minister when it was the Liberal Party, under H.H. Asquith, who had campaigned vigorously for free trade (to the point of healing the rift that had existed between the Asquith and Lloyd George factions to a certain extent), who held the balance of power. Baldwin advised the King to send for MacDonald, whose individual party held the most seats in the Commons. MacDonald accepted the King's commission later that day, arriving with his Labour colleagues, to the amusement and dismay to many, in full court dress.