Stanley Baldwin

The Right Honourable The Earl Baldwin of Bewdley KG PC PC (Can) JP FRS
Portrait by Walter Stoneman, 1920
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 7 June 1935 – 28 May 1937
Monarchs	George V Edward VIII George VI
Preceded by	Ramsay MacDonald
Succeeded by	Neville Chamberlain
In office 4 November 1924 – 4 June 1929
Monarch	George V
Preceded by	Ramsay MacDonald
Succeeded by	Ramsay MacDonald
In office 22 May 1923 – 22 January 1924
Monarch	George V
Preceded by	Bonar Law
Succeeded by	Ramsay MacDonald
Lord President of the Council
In office 24 August 1931 – 7 June 1935
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	The Lord Parmoor
Succeeded by	Ramsay MacDonald
Senior positions Leader of the Opposition In office 5 June 1929 – 24 August 1931 Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald Preceded by Ramsay MacDonald Succeeded by Arthur Henderson In office 22 January 1924 – 4 November 1924 Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald Preceded by Ramsay MacDonald Succeeded by Ramsay MacDonald Leader of the Conservative Party In office 22 May 1923 – 28 May 1937 Preceded by Bonar Law Succeeded by Neville Chamberlain
Ministerial offices 1917‍–‍1923 Chancellor of the Exchequer In office 27 October 1922 – 27 August 1923 Prime Minister Bonar Law Himself Preceded by Robert Horne Succeeded by Neville Chamberlain President of the Board of Trade In office 1 April 1921 – 19 October 1922 Prime Minister David Lloyd George Preceded by Robert Horne Succeeded by Philip Lloyd-Greame Financial Secretary to the Treasury In office 18 June 1917 – 1 April 1921 Serving with Hardman Lever (1917–1919) Prime Minister David Lloyd George Preceded by Hardman Lever Succeeded by Hilton Young
Parliamentary offices Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal Hereditary peerage 8 July 1937 – 14 December 1947 Preceded by Peerage created Succeeded by The 2nd Earl Baldwin of Bewdley Member of Parliament for Bewdley In office 29 February 1908 – 30 June 1937 Preceded by Alfred Baldwin Succeeded by Roger Conant
Personal details
Born	Stanley Baldwin (1867-08-03)3 August 1867 Bewdley, England
Died	14 December 1947(1947-12-14) (aged 80) Stourport-on-Severn, England
Resting place	Worcester Cathedral
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Lucy Ridsdale ​ ​ (m. 1892; died 1945)​
Children	7, including Oliver and Arthur
Parents	Alfred Baldwin Louisa MacDonald
Education	Harrow School
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge
Occupation	business magnate politician
Signature
Stanley Baldwin's voice Baldwin's last speech as Prime Minister Recorded 27 May 1937

Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley KG PC PC (Can) JP FRS (3 August 1867 – 14 December 1947)^[1] was a British statesman and Conservative politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars. He was prime minister on three occasions, from May 1923 to January 1924, from November 1924 to June 1929, and from June 1935 to May 1937.

Born to a prosperous family in Bewdley, Worcestershire, Baldwin was educated at Hawtreys, Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He joined the family iron- and steel-making business, and entered the House of Commons in 1908 as the member for Bewdley, succeeding his father Alfred. He was Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1917–1921) and President of the Board of Trade (1921–1922) in the coalition ministry of David Lloyd George and then rose rapidly. In 1922, Baldwin was one of the prime movers in the withdrawal of Conservative support from Lloyd George; he subsequently became Chancellor of the Exchequer in Bonar Law's Conservative ministry. Upon Law's resignation for health reasons in May 1923, Baldwin became prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party. He called an election in December 1923 on the issue of tariffs and lost the Conservatives' parliamentary majority, after which Ramsay MacDonald formed a minority Labour government.

After winning the 1924 general election, Baldwin formed his second government, which saw important tenures of office by Austen Chamberlain (Foreign Secretary), Winston Churchill (at the Exchequer) and Neville Chamberlain (Health). The latter two ministers strengthened Conservative appeal by reforms in areas formerly associated with the Liberal Party. They included industrial conciliation, unemployment insurance, a more extensive old-age pension system, slum clearance, more private housing and expansion of maternal care and childcare. However, continuing sluggish economic growth and declines in mining and heavy industry weakened Baldwin's base of support. His government also saw the General Strike in 1926 and introduced the Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927 to curb the powers of trade unions.^[2]

Baldwin narrowly lost the 1929 general election and his continued leadership of the party was subject to extensive criticism by press barons Lord Rothermere and Lord Beaverbrook. In 1931, with the onset of the Great Depression, Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald formed a National Government, most of whose ministers were Conservatives, which won an enormous majority at the 1931 general election. As Lord President of the Council and one of four Conservatives among the small ten-member Cabinet, Baldwin took over many of the Prime Minister's duties when MacDonald's health deteriorated. This government saw an Act delivering increased self-government for India, a measure opposed by Churchill and by many rank-and-file Conservatives. The Statute of Westminster 1931 gave Dominion status to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, while taking the first step towards the Commonwealth of Nations. As party leader, Baldwin made many striking innovations, such as clever use of radio and film, that made him highly visible to the public and strengthened Conservative appeal.

In 1935, Baldwin replaced MacDonald as prime minister and won the 1935 general election with another large majority. During this time, he oversaw the beginning of British rearmament and the abdication of King Edward VIII. Baldwin's third government saw a number of crises in foreign affairs, including the public uproar over the Hoare–Laval Pact, the remilitarisation of the Rhineland, and the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Baldwin stepped down in 1937 and was succeeded by Neville Chamberlain.

Historical retrospection and analysis of Baldwin's political career have been complex. During his tenure, Baldwin was regarded as a popular and successful prime minister,^[3] but for the final decade of his life and for many years afterwards he was vilified for having presided over high unemployment and a struggling economy in the 1930s. Baldwin has been criticized both contemporaneously and more recently as he was among several high-profile British public figures who instituted the policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler and failed to rearm sufficiently to prepare for the Second World War. However, some have praised Baldwin for his role in forcing and expediting the abdication of Edward VIII, as rumours circulated about Edward's Nazi sympathies and potential compromises to British national security.^[4][5] Today, modern scholars generally rank him in the upper half of British prime ministers.^[6]