Stanley Baldwin

Biography

Stanley Baldwin was born in 1867 in Bewdley, Worcestershire, the only son of a prosperous ironmaster, and was a first cousin of Rudyard Kipling. He was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took a third in history, and then joined the family iron and steel business, where he proved a capable, modernising manager. In 1908 he succeeded his father as MP for Bewdley.

He was Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1917 and President of the Board of Trade from 1921 in Lloyd George's coalition, helped bring down that coalition in 1922, and became Chancellor of the Exchequer under Bonar Law. When Law retired in May 1923 Baldwin became prime minister and Conservative leader. He called an election on tariffs that December, lost his majority and gave way to Ramsay MacDonald's first Labour government, but returned with a large majority in 1924.

His second government saw reforms in pensions, housing and unemployment insurance, the General Strike of 1926 and the Trade Disputes Act of 1927. After losing the 1929 election he joined MacDonald's National Government in 1931 as Lord President of the Council and took on much of the premier's work. He became prime minister again in 1935, won that year's election, began rearmament and handled the abdication of Edward VIII before retiring in 1937 as Earl Baldwin of Bewdley. Long blamed for unemployment and for appeasing Hitler, he is now generally placed in the upper half of British prime ministers. He was Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1930 until his death in 1947.