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Stanley Baldwin Biography |
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (August 3, 1867 - December 14, 1947) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on three separate occasions.
Born at Bewdley in Worcestershire he was educated at Harrow and Cambridge, and went into the family business. In 1908 he succeeded his deceased father as Conservative MP for Bewdley. In 1917 he was appointed to the junior ministerial post of Financial Secretary to the Treasury where he sought to encourage voluntary donations by the rich in order the repay the United Kingdom's war debt, notably writing to The Times under the peusdonym 'FST'. In 1921 he was promoted to the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade in 1921.
In late 1922 dissatisfaction grew within the Conservative Party about the coalition it was in with David Lloyd George. At a meeting of Conservative MPs at the Carlton Club in October Baldwin announced that he would no longer support the coalition and famously condemned Lloyd George for being a "dynamic force" that was bringing destruction across politics. The meeting chose to leave the coalition despite the views of most of the party leadership. As a result the Conservatives' new leader, Andrew Bonar Law was forced to find new ministers for his Cabinet and so he promoted Baldwin to the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer. In November a general election was held and the Conservatives were returned with a majoirty.
In May 1923 it was discovered that Bonar Law was dying of cancer and he retired immediately. Due to many of the party's leading figures standing aloof from the government there were only two candidates to succeed him - Lord Curzon the Foreign Secretary and Baldwin. The choice formally fell to King George V acting on the advice of senior ministers and officials. It is not entirely clear what factors were the most crucial, but many felt that Curzon was unsuitable to be Prime Minister, due to his being a member of the House of Lords (though this did nor stop other Lords being seriously considered for the premeirship on subsequent occasions), his personal character which many found objectional and his coming from a rich background at a time when the Conservative Party was seeking to appeal to a more meritocratic support base. As a result Baldwin was appointed Prime Minister. Initially he also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer whilst he sought to recruit the former Liberal Chancellor Reginald McKenna to join the government but when this failed he instead appointed Neville Chamberlain.
The Conservatives had a clear majority in the House of Commons and could govern for another four years before the need for a new general election, but Baldwin felt bound by a pledge given by Bonar Law at the previous election that there would be no introduction of tariffs without a further election. With the country facing growing unemployment due to cheap imports he decided to call an early general election in December 1923 to seek a mandate to introduce Protection. Although this succeeded in reuniting his divided party, the election produced an inconclusive outcome. The Conservatives won 258 MPs, the Labour Party 191 and the Liberals 159. Whilst the Conservatives were the largest party they had been clearly defeated on the central issue of the election. Baldwin remained Prime Minister until the opening session of the new Parliament in January 1924 when the government was defeated on a confidence vote and he resigned immediately.
For the next ten months a minority Labour government was in office but it too fell and a further general election was held in October 1924. This election resulted in a landslide majority of 223 for the Conservatives, primarily at the expense of the Liberals who lost ground due to a depleted organisation and limited funds. Baldwin became Prime Minister again and remained in office until 1929. This period included the General Strike of 1926, a crisis which the government managed to weather, despite the havoc it caused nationally. In 1931 he and the Conservatives entered into a coalition with Labour Party Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. This decision led to MacDonald's expulsion from his own party, and Baldwin, as Lord President of the Council became de facto Prime Minister for the increasingly senile MacDonald over the next four years, when he, once again, became Prime Minister. During his third term of office, in 1935 - 1937, his foreign policy was much criticised, and he also faced the problem of the abdication of King Edward VIII. With this successfully achieved he retired after the coronation of the new King George VI and was created Earl Baldwin of Bewdley.
Baldwin was a cousin of the author and journalist Rudyard Kipling.
Stanley Baldwin's First Government, May 1923 - January 1924
Stanley Baldwin - Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons
Lord Cave - Lord Chancellor
Lord Salisbury - Lord President of the Council
Lord Cecil - Lord Privy Seal
William Clive Bridgeman - Home Secretary
Lord Curzon - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
The Duke of Devonshire - Secretary of State for the Colonies
Lord Derby - Secretary of State for War
Lord Peel - Secretary of State for India
Sir Samuel Hoare - Secretary of State for Air
Lord Novar - Secretary for Scotland
Leo Amery - First Lord of the Admiralty
Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame - President of the Board of Trade
Sir Robert Sanders - Minister of Agriculture
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood - President of the Board of Education
Sir Anderson Montague-Barlow - Minister of Labour
Neville Chamberlain - Minister of Health
Sir William Joynson-Hicks - Financial Secretary to the Treasury
Sir Laming Worthington-Evans - Postmaster-General
Changes
1923 - Neville Chamberlain became Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sir William Joynson Hicks succeeded him as Minister of Health. Joynson-Hicks' successor as Financial Secretary to the Treasury was not in the Cabinet.
Stanley Baldwin's Second Cabinet, November 1924 - June 1929
Stanley Baldwin - Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
Lord Cave - Lord Chancellor
Lord Curzon - Lord President
Lord Salisbury - Lord Privy Seal
Winston Churchill - Chancellor of the Exchequer
Sir William Joynson-Hicks - Home Secretary
Sir Austen Chamberlain - Foreign Secretary and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
Leo Amery - Colonial Secretary
Sir Laming Worthington-Evans - Secretary of State for War
Lord Birkenhead - Secretary of State for India
Sir Samuel Hoare - Secretary for Air
Sir John Gilmour - Secretary for Scotland
William Clive Bridgeman - First Lord of the Admiralty
Lord Cecil - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame - President of the Board of Trade
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood - Minister of Agriculture
Lord Edward Percy - President of the Board of Education
Lord Peel - First Commissioner of Works
Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland - Minister of Labour
Neville Chamberlain - Minister of Health
Sir Douglas Hogg - Attorney-General
Changes
1925 On Curzon's death, Lord Balfour succeeded him as Lord President. W. Guinness succeeded E.F.L. Wood as Minister of Agriculture. The post of Secretary of State for the Dominions is created and held by Leo Amery in tandem with Secretary of State for the Colonies.
1926 - The post of Secretary of Scotland is upgraded to Secretary of State for Scotland.
1927 - Lord Cushendun succeeded Lord Cecil as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1928 - Lord Hailsham (former Sir D. Hogg) succeeded Lord Cave as Lord Chancellor. Hailsham's successor as Attorney-General was not in the Cabinet. Lord Peel succeeded Birkenhead as Secretary of State for India. Lord Londonderry succeeded Lord Peel as First Commissioner of Public Works
Stanley Baldwin's Third Cabinet, May 1935 - May 1937
Stanley Baldwin - Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
Lord Hailsham - Lord Chancellor
Ramsay MacDonald - Lord President
Lord Londonderry - Lord Privy Seal
Neville Chamberlain - Chancellor of the Exchequer
Sir John Simon - Home Secretary and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
Sir Samuel Hoare - Foreign Secretary
Malcolm MacDonald - Colonial Secretary
J.H. Thomas - Dominions Secretary
Lord Halifax - Secretary for War
Lord Zetland - Secretary for India
Lord Swinton - Secretary for Air
Sir G. Collins - Secretary of State for Scotland
Lord Monsell - First Lord of the Admiralty
Lord Runciman - President of the Board of Trade
W. Elliott - Minister of Agriculture
O. Stanley - President of the Board of Education
E. Brown - Minister of Labour
Sir Kingsley Wood - Minister of Health
Lord Harlech - First Commissioner of Works
Anthony Eden - Minister of League of Nations Affairs
Lord Percy - Minister without Portfolio
Changes
1935 - Malcolm MacDonald succeeds J.H. Thomas as Dominions Secretary. Thomas succeeds MacDonald as Colonial Secretary. Lord Halifax succeeds Lord Londonderry as Lord Privy Seal. Duff Cooper succeeds Halifax as Secretary for War. Anthony Eden succeeds Sir Samuel Hoare as Foreign Secretary.
1936 - Lord Harlech succeeds J.H. Thomas as Colonial Secretary. Lord Stanhope succeeds Harlech as First Commissioner of Works. W. Elliott succeeds Sir G. Collins as Secretary for Scotland. W.S. Morrison succeeds Elliott as Minister of Agriculture. Samuel Hoare succeeds Lord Monsell as First Lord of the Admiralty. Lord Percy leaves the cabinet. Sir T. Inskip enters the cabinet as Minister for the Coordination of Defense. Leslie Hore-Belisha enters the Cabinet as Minister of Transport. |
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