Stanley Baldwin (3 August 1867 – 14 December 1947) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 23 May 1923 to 16 January 1924 (succeeding Bonar Law and preceding Ramsay MacDonald), from 4 November 1924 to 5 June 1929 (succeeding MacDonald and preceding MacDonald), and from 7 June 1935 to 28 May 1937 (succeeding MacDonald and preceding Neville Chamberlain). Baldwin, a leader of the UK Conservative Party, dominated the government of Britain during the Interwar period.
Biography[]
Stanley Baldwin was born in Bewdley, Worcestershire, England on 3 August 1867, and he was educated at Harrow and Cambridge. He worked for his father Alfred Baldwin's iron manufacturing company for twenty years, and he remembered this time as one of great harmony between workers and owners. Baldwin also developed a love for the English countryside, and he would go on to portray himself as a representative of "deep England". Baldwin entered Parliament in 1908 as a Conservative Party MP, inheriting his father's Bewdley seat. He made little impact until he became Bonar Law's private secretary in 1916, and he served as Financial Secretary to the Treasur yafter 1917. In 1921, he became President of the Board of Trade under David Lloyd George's coalition government, and he rose to prominence when he spoke against continuing Conservative support for Lloyd George in Octobeer 1922.
Following a general election, Prime Minister Bonar Law selected Baldwin to be Chancellor of the Exchequer, and he became Prime Minister when Bonar Law resigned because of illh ealth. Baldwin launched the party into an unsuccessful election campaign in favor of tariffs, but he achieved a large majority at a further election in 1924. His premiership was marked by the return of the Gold Standard, the general strike, and a programme of social legislation introduced by Neville Chamberlain. Baldwin attempted to articulate a brand of "new conservatism", which emphasized moderate reforms in order to reduce class tensions. He lost the election in 1929, despite having given women aged 21–30 the vote the year before, and eh faced strong opposition from his own party's free trade faction.
In 1931, Baldwin formed the "National Government" with UK Labor Party Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, and he served as Lord President of the Council. He gained Conservative support for a 1935 bill that gave measures of self-government to British India, and he succeeded MacDonald as Prime Minister in 1935. His last ministry was marked by the crisis following Edward VIII of Britain's abdication and rising tensions in international affairs, and he initially allowed for Italy to annex part of Ethiopia in 1935 before withdrawing his support. Baldwin initiated plans for rearmament in response to the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, although he feared an arms race. He resigned as Prime Minister in 1937 and moved to the House of Lords, and he died in 1947.