Arthur Balfour

The Right Honourable Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC (25 July 1848–19 March 1930) was a British statesman and the thirty-third Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Early Life

The eldest son of James Maitland Balfour of Whittingehame, Haddingtonshire, and of Lady Blanche Gascoyne Cecil, he was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1874 he became Conservative M.P. for Hertford, and represented that constituency until 1885. In the spring of 1878 Balfour became private secretary to his uncle, Lord Salisbury. In that capacity he accompanied Salisbury to the Congress of Berlin, and gained his first experience of international politics in connection with the settlement of the Russo-Turkish conflict. At the same time, he became known in the world of letters, the intellectual subtlety and literary capacity of his Defence of Philosophic Doubt (1879) suggesting that he might make a reputation as a speculative thinker.

Related Topics:
James Maitland Balfour - Whittingehame - Haddingtonshire - Lady Blanche Gascoyne Cecil - Eton - Trinity College, Cambridge - 1874 - Conservative - M.P. - Hertford - 1885 - Lord Salisbury - Congress of Berlin

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Balfour divided his time between the political arena and the study. Released from his duties as private secretary by the general election of 1880, he began to take a more active part in parliamentary affairs. He was for a time politically associated with Lord Randolph Churchill, Sir Henry Drummond Wolff and John Gorst, the quartet becoming known as the "Fourth Party," and gaining notoriety by the freedom of the criticisms directed by its leader, Lord Randolph Churchill, against Sir Stafford Northcote, Lord Cross and other prominent members of the "old gang." Balfour was thought to be merely amusing himself with politics. The House did not take him quite seriously. Members looked upon him merely as a young member of the governing classes who remained in the House because it was the proper thing for a man of family to do.

Related Topics:
Lord Randolph Churchill - Henry Drummond Wolff - John Gorst - Sir Stafford Northcote - Lord Cross

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