Baldwin, Stanley, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley
1867-1947. British Conservative politician,
prime minister 1923-24, 1924-29, and 1935-37;
he weathered the general strike 1926, secured
complete adult suffrage 1928, and handled the
abdication crisis of Edward VIII 1936, but
failed to prepare Britain for World War II.
Born in Bewdley, Worcestershire, the son of
an iron and steel magnate, in 1908 he was
elected Unionist member of Parliament for
Bewdley, and in 1916 he became parliamentary
private secretary to Bonar Law. He was
financial secretary to the Treasury 1917-21,
and then appointed to the presidency of the
Board of Trade. In 1919 he gave the Treasury
150,000 of War Loan for cancellation,
representing about 20% of his fortune. He was
a leader in the disruption of the Lloyd
George coalition 1922, and, as chancellor
under Bonar Law, achieved a settlement of war
debts with the USA. As prime minister 1923-24
and again 1924-29, Baldwin passed the Trades
Disputes Act of 1927 after the general
strike, granted widows' and orphans'
pensions, and complete adult suffrage 1928.
He joined the national government of Ramsay
MacDonald 1931 as Lord President of the
Council. He handled the abdication crisis
during his third premiership 1935-37, but was
later much criticized for his failures to
resist popular desire for an accommodation
with the dictators Hitler and Mussolini, and
to rearm more effectively.