Arthur Balfour
|
The Right Honourable The Earl of Balfour KG OM PC FRS DL |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
|
In office 11 July 1902 – 5 December 1905 |
|
| Monarch | Edward VII |
| Preceded by | The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury |
| Succeeded by | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman |
| Lord President of the Council | |
|
In office 27 April 1925 – 4 June 1929 |
|
| Prime Minister | Stanley Baldwin |
| Preceded by | The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Parmoor |
|
In office 23 October 1919 – 19 October 1922 |
|
| Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
| Preceded by | The Earl Curzon of Kedleston |
| Succeeded by | The 4th Marquess of Salisbury |
| Foreign Secretary | |
|
In office 10 December 1916 – 23 October 1919 |
|
| Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
| Preceded by | The Viscount Grey of Fallodon |
| Succeeded by | The Earl Curzon of Kedleston |
| First Lord of the Admiralty | |
|
In office 25 May 1915 – 10 December 1916 |
|
| Prime Minister |
H. H. Asquith David Lloyd George |
| Preceded by | Winston Churchill |
| Succeeded by | Sir Edward Carson |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
|
In office 27 February 1906 – 13 November 1911 |
|
| Monarch | Edward VII George V |
| Prime Minister | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Bonar Law |
|
In office 5 December 1905 – 8 February 1906 |
|
| Monarch | Edward VII |
| Prime Minister | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman |
| Preceded by | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman |
| Lord Privy Seal | |
|
In office 11 July 1902 – 17 October 1903 |
|
| Preceded by | The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury |
| Succeeded by | The 4th Marquess of Salisbury |
| Leader of the Conservative Party | |
|
In office 11 July 1902 – 13 November 1911 |
|
| Preceded by | The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Bonar Law |
| Chief Secretary for Ireland | |
|
In office 7 March 1887 – 9 November 1891 |
|
| Prime Minister | The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | Sir Michael Hicks Beach |
| Succeeded by | William Jackson |
| Secretary for Scotland | |
|
In office 5 August 1886 – 11 March 1887 |
|
| Prime Minister | The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Dalhousie |
| Succeeded by | The Marquess of Lothian |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Arthur James Balfour 25 July 1848 Whittingehame House, East Lothian, Scotland |
| Died | 19 March 1930 (aged 81) Fishers Hill House, Woking, Surrey, England |
| Resting place | Whittingehame Church, Whittingehame |
| Nationality | British/Scottish |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Occupation |
Politician Statesman |
| Religion |
Church of England and Church of Scotland |
| Signature |  |
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, FRS, DL (/ˈbælfər/; 25 July 1848 – 19 March 1930) was a British Conservative politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from July 1902 to December 1905, and later Foreign Secretary.
Entering Parliament in 1874, Balfour achieved prominence as Chief Secretary for Ireland, in which position he suppressed agrarian unrest whilst taking measures against absentee landlords. He opposed Irish Home Rule, saying there could be no half-way house between Ireland remaining within the United Kingdom or becoming independent. From 1891 he led the Conservative Party in the House of Commons, serving under his uncle, Lord Salisbury, whose government won large majorities in 1895 and 1900. A brilliant debater, he was bored by the mundane tasks of party management.
In July 1902 he succeeded his uncle as Prime Minister. He oversaw reform of British defence policy and supported Fisher's naval innovations. He secured the Entente Cordiale with France, leaving Germany in the cold. He cautiously embraced the imperial preference championed by Joseph Chamberlain, but resignations from the Cabinet over tariffs left his party divided. He also suffered from public anger at the later stages of the Boer war (counter-insurgency warfare characterized as "methods of barbarism") and the importation of Chinese labour to South Africa ("Chinese slavery"). He resigned as Prime Minister in December 1905 and the following month the Conservatives suffered a landslide defeat at the 1906 election, in which he lost his own seat. After re-entering Parliament at a by-election, he continued to serve as Leader of the Opposition throughout the crisis over Lloyd George's 1909 budget, the narrow loss of two further General Elections in 1910, and the passage of the Parliament Act. He resigned as party leader later in 1911.
...
Wikipedia