Stanley Baldwin (original) (raw)

Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (August 3, 1867 - December 14, 1947) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on three separate occasions.

The Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
Terms of Office: May, 1923 - January, 1924November, 1924 - June, 1929 May, 1935 - May, 1937
PM Predecessors: Andrew Bonar LawRamsay MacDonald
PM Successors: Ramsay MacDonaldNeville Chamberlain
Date of Birth: 3 August 1867
Place of Birth: Bewdley, Worcestershire
Political Party: Conservative

Born at Bewdley in Worcestershire he was educated at Harrow and Cambridge, and went into the family business. He became a Conservative MP in 1908, and was appointed president of the Board of Trade in 1921. The unexpected illness and death from cancer of Andrew Bonar Law resulted in Baldwin being selected to replace him as prime minister in 1923, but his government lasted only months.

After a brief interlude in which Britain's first-ever Labour government came to power, Baldwin regained his position as prime minister in the following year, and retained it 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, in 1935 - 1937, his foreign policy was much criticised, and he also faced the problem of the abdication of King Edward VIII. In the face of the growing Nazi threat to Europe, he resigned and was created Earl Baldwin of Bewdley.

Stanley Baldwin's First Government, May 1923 - January 1924

Changes

Stanley Baldwin's Second Cabinet, November 1924 - June 1929

Stanley Baldwin's Third Cabinet, May 1935 - May 1937

Changes

Preceded by:Andrew Bonar Law **Prime Minister of the United Kingdom**First term (1922-23) Followed by:Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by:Ramsay MacDonald **Prime Minister of the United Kingdom**Second term (1924-29) Followed by:Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by:Ramsay MacDonald **Prime Minister of the United Kingdom**Third term (1935-37) Followed by:Neville Chamberlain
Preceded by:New Creation Earl Baldwin Followed by:Oliver Baldwin