Baldwin, Stanley, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley

Baldwin, Stanley, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (b. 3 Aug. 1867, d. 14 Dec. 1947). British Prime Minister 1923–4, 1924–9, 1935–7 Born in Bewdley (Worcestershire), educated at Harrow and Cambridge. He worked for his father's iron manufacturing company for twenty years. He was to remember this time as one of great harmony between workers and owners, and the need for such good relations had a strong impact on his political views. He also developed a love for the English countryside, which enabled him to portray himself in later years as a representative of ‘deep England’. He entered Parliament in 1908 as a Conservative, inheriting his father's Bewdley seat. He made little impact until he became Bonar Law's private secretary in 1916, and Financial Secretary to the Treasury in 1917. In 1921, he entered the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade in Lloyd George's coalition government. He rose to prominence when he spoke against continuing Conservative support for Lloyd George in October 1922.

Following a general election, he was selected by Bonar Law to be Chancellor of the Exchequer, and became Prime Minister in 1923 when the latter resigned because of ill health. He soon launched the Conservative Party into an unsuccessful election campaign in favour of tariffs, but achieved a large majority at a further election in 1924. His premiership was marked by the return to the Gold Standard, the General Strike, and a programme of social legislation introduced by Neville Chamberlain. Throughout this time, he tried to articulate a brand of ‘New Conservatism’, which emphasized moderate reforms in order to reduce class tensions. He lost the election of 1929, in spite of having given the ‘flappers’ (women aged 21–30) the vote the year before. He faced strong opposition from Conservatives calling for ‘Empire Free Trade’ (a system of tariffs involving preferential treatment for the Empire), and narrowly survived various threats to his leadership.

With Ramsay MacDonald, he formed the National Government in 1931, serving as Lord President of the Council (i.e. as second-in-command), and was crucial in gaining Conservative support for the 1935 Government of India Bill, which gave measures of self-government to India. He succeeded MacDonald as Prime Minister in 1935. His last ministry was marked by the Abdication Crisis, and rising tensions in international affairs. In 1935 he approved of the Hoare-Laval proposal to allow Italy to annex part of Ethiopia, but later withdrew his support, when Italy went on to annex the whole country. In response to this, and the rise of Hitler, he initiated plans for rearmament, although he was conscious of the need to proceed gradually owing to public fears of an arms race. He resigned as Prime Minister in 1937 and moved to the House of Lords. Despite his mixed legislative and administrative record, his dominant position in British politics for almost fifteen years (1923–37) was based on his image as a trustworthy politician, who understood the needs of the ordinary person.