Stanley Baldwin
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| Periods in Office: | May, 1923 - January, 1924 November, 1924 - June, 1929 May, 1935 - May, 1937 |
| PM Predecessors: | Andrew Bonar Law Ramsay MacDonald (twice) |
| PM Successors: | Ramsay MacDonald (twice) Neville Chamberlain |
| Date of Birth: | 3 August 1867 |
| Place of Birth: | Bewdley, Worcestershire |
| Political Party: | Conservative |
| Retirement honour: | Hereditary Peerage |
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (August 3, 1867 - December 14, 1947) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on three separate occasions.
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Early life
Born at Bewdley in Worcestershire, he was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge (where he received a third class degree in history), and went into the family business. In the 1906 general election he contested Kidderminster but lost amidst an anti-Conservative landslide. In 1908 he succeeded his deceased father as MP for Bewdley. During the First World War he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Conservative leader Andrew Bonar Law and 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.
First appointment as Prime Minister
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In May 1923, when Bonar Law discovered that he was dying of cancer, 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 Stanley 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 premiership on subsequent occasions). Likewise, his lack of experience in domestic affairs, his personal character, which many found objectional, and his aristocratic background at a time when the Conservative Party sought to shed its image as bastion of the establishment, were deemed as impediments to his advancement. The king then turned to Baldwin to become Prime Minister. Initially Baldwin 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 being contitutional required to hold 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, Baldwin decided to call an early general election in December 1923 to seek a mandate to introduce protectionist tariffs. 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 retained a plurality in the House of Commons, they had been clearly defeated on the central election issue of unemployment. 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.
Return to office
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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, from 1935 to 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.
Miscellaneous
Baldwin was a cousin of the author and journalist Rudyard Kipling.
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 of Chelwood - Lord Privy Seal
- William Clive Bridgeman - Home Secretary
- Lord Curzon of Kedleston - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
- The Duke of Devonshire - Secretary of State for the Colonies
- Lord Derby - Secretary of State for War
- Viscount 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 took over from Baldwin as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sir William Joynson Hicks succeeded Chamberlain as Minister of Health. Joynson-Hicks' successor as Financial Secretary to the Treasury was not in the Cabinet. Hello
Second Cabinet, November 1924 - June 1929
- Stanley Baldwin - Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
- Lord Cave - Lord Chancellor
- Lord Curzon of Kedleston - 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 of Chelwood - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister - President of the Board of Trade
- Edward Frederick Lindley Wood - Minister of Agriculture
- Lord Eustace 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 Lord Curzon of Kedleston'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 Dominion Affairs 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 of Chelwood as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- 1928 - Lord Hailsham (former Sir D. Hogg) succeeded Lord Cave as Lord Chancellor. Lord Hailsham's successor as Attorney-General was not in the Cabinet. Lord Peel succeeded Lord Birkenhead as Secretary of State for India. Lord Londonderry succeeded Lord Peel as First Commissioner of Public Works
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 of the Council
- 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 of State for India
- Lord Swinton - Secretary of State for Air
- Sir Godfrey Collins - Secretary of State for Scotland
- Bolton Eyres-Monsell - First Lord of the Admiralty
- Walter Runciman - President of the Board of Trade
- Walter Elliot - Minister of Agriculture
- Oliver Stanley - President of the Board of Education
- Ernest Brown - Minister of Labour
- Sir Kingsley Wood - Minister of Health
- William Ormsby-Gore - First Commissioner of Works
- Anthony Eden - Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for League of Nations Affairs
- Lord Eustace Percy - Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for government policy
Changes
- November 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 Lord Halifax as Secretary for War. Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister becomes Viscount Swinton and Bolton Eyres-Monsell becomes Viscount Monsell, both remaining in the Cabinet.
- December 1935 Anthony Eden succeeds Sir Samuel Hoare as Foreign Secretary and is not replaced as Minister without Portfolio.
- 1936 - Sir Thomas Inskip enters the cabinet as Minister for the Coordination of Defense. Lord Eustace Percy leaves the cabinet. William Ormsby-Gore succeeds J.H. Thomas as Colonial Secretary. Lord Stanhope succeeds Ormsby-Gore as First Commissioner of Works. Elliott succeeds Collins as Secretary for Scotland. William Shepherd Morrison succeeds Elliott as Minister of Agriculture. Samuel Hoare succeeds Lord Monsell as First Lord of the Admiralty. Leslie Hore-Belisha enters the Cabinet as Minister of Transport.
| Preceded by: Sir Robert Horne | President of the Board of Trade 1921–1922 | Succeeded by: Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame | |||
| Preceded by: Sir Robert Horne | Chancellor of the Exchequer 1922–1923 | Succeeded by: Neville Chamberlain Template:Succession box one by three to two Template:Succession box two to two | |||
| Preceded by: The Lord Parmoor | Lord President of the Council 1931–1935 | Succeeded by: Ramsay MacDonald | |||
| Preceded by: The Viscount Snowden | Lord Privy Seal 1932–1934 | Succeeded by: Anthony Eden Template:Succession box two to two Template:End box
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