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.

In Lord Salisbury's Governments

Lord Salisbury disagreed, and made Balfour President of the Local Government Board (1885 - 1886), and later Secretary for Scotland (1886) with a seat in the cabinet. These offices, while having few opportunities for distinction, served as a sort of apprenticeship for Balfour. In early 1887 Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, resigned because of illness, and Salisbury appointed his nephew in his place. The selection took the political world by surprise, and was much criticized, possibly leading to the British phrase "Bob's your uncle!" Balfour surprised his critics by his ruthless enforcement of the Crimes Act, earning the nickname "Bloody Balfour." Coupled with steady administration, Balfour did much to destroy his reputation as a public lightweight.

Related Topics:
President of the Local Government Board - Secretary for Scotland - Michael Hicks-Beach - Chief Secretary for Ireland

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In parliament he resisted any overtures to the Irish Parliamentary Party on Home Rule, and was active in encouraging Unionist militancy in Ireland. He broadened the basis of material prosperity and social progress by creating the Congested Districts Board in 1890. During the period 1886 - 1892, he developed gifts of oratory that made him one of the most effective of public speakers. Impressive in matter rather than in delivery, and seldom rising to the level of eloquence as had Bright and Gladstone, his speeches were logical and convincing, and delighted a wider audience.

Related Topics:
Irish Parliamentary Party - Home Rule - Unionist - Congested Districts Board - Bright - Gladstone

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On the death of W. H. Smith in 1891, he became First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons. After the fall of the government in 1892 he spent three years as leader of the opposition. On the return of the Conservatives to power in 1895, he resumed the leadership of the House, but not at first successfully, his management of the abortive education proposals of 1896 being thought to show a disinclination for the continuous drudgery of parliamentary management. After the opening session things went more smoothly, and Balfour regained his old reputation. He had the satisfaction of seeing a bill pass for providing Ireland with an improved system of local government, and took an active share in the debates on the various foreign and domestic questions that came before parliament during 1895 - 1900.

Related Topics:
W. H. Smith - First Lord of the Treasury - Leader of the House of Commons

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During the illness of Lord Salisbury in 1898, and again in Lord Salisbury's absence abroad, he was in charge of the foreign office, and it was his job to conduct the critical negotiations with Russia on the question of railways in North China. As a member of the cabinet responsible for the Transvaal negotiations in 1899, he bore his full share of controversy, and when the war began disastrously, he was the first to realize the need to put the full military strength of the country into the field. His leadership of the House of Commons was marked by considerable firmness in the suppression of obstruction, but there was a slight revival of the criticisms that had been current in 1896. Balfour's inability to get the maximum amount of work out of the House was largely due to the situation in South Africa, which absorbed the intellectual energies of the House and of the country.

Related Topics:
Transvaal - South Africa

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