It never came close to acquiring a majority in Parliament or to being the official opposition, but it did spend periods as a junior coalition partner in the government of South Africa.

The worldwide depression after the end of the First World War had led to a strike in South Africa, known as the Rand Rebellion, which had been defused through a combination of military force and repression, including the imprisonment of Labour leader Frederic Creswell for a month.

While serving in government, the LP initiated important economic and industrial legislation which improved conditions for white workers.

The Labour MP who was Minister of Posts, Telegraphs and Public Works, Walter Madeley, recognised the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union, which had non-white members.

When the Labour Party National Council refused to agree, the Minister could only be got rid of by the resignation and reconstruction of the whole Pact government.

[7] After the South African general election, 1929, even though the National Party won an overall majority, Colonel Creswell and a colleague remained ministers.

His successor, the last Labour leader Alex Hepple, tried to pursue a socialist policy as well as maintaining relations with groups like the African National Congress.

His policies proved to be far too left-leaning for the majority Afrikaner-electorate and led a sound defeat in the 1958 election, in which Labour gained 0.23% of the votes and lost all of its remaining seats.