Stanley Baldwin

The Right Honourable Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC (3 August 1867–14 December 1947) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on three separate occasions.

Return to office

For the next ten months a minority Labour government was in office but it too fell and a further general election was held in October 1924. This election resulted in a landslide majority of 223 for the Conservatives, primarily at the expense of the Liberals who lost ground due to a depleted organisation and limited funds. Baldwin became Prime Minister again and remained in office 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. His government obtained, with great difficulty, the passage of the landmark Government of India Act 1935. During his third term of office, from 1935 to 1937, his foreign policy was much criticised, and he also faced the problem of the abdication of King Edward VIII. With this successfully achieved he retired after the coronation of the new King George VI and was created Earl Baldwin of Bewdley.

Related Topics:
General election - 1929 - General Strike - 1926 - 1931 - Ramsay MacDonald - Lord President of the Council - De facto - Senile - Government of India Act 1935 - 1935 - 1937 - Abdication - Edward VIII - George VI

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