Balfour, Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl

b. 1848; d. 1930

British statesman, born at Whittinghame, East Lothian, and educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1874 he became Conservative MP for Hertford; the constituency he continued to represent until 1885, when he was returned for East Manchester.

In 1878 he became private secretary to his uncle, the Marquess of Salisbury, who, on the resignation of Lord Derby, had become foreign secretary. Balfour accompanied Lords Beaconsfield and Salisbury in the Berlin congress, and in 1880, on the accession to power of the Liberal government, he became a member of the Fourth Party, but took no very active part in its affairs. The second Salisbury administration, formed in July 1886, saw Balfour's appointment to the chief secretaryship of Scotland and a seat in the Cabinet. In 1887 he became chief secretary for Ireland. This was Balfour's first great appointment, and the sense of justice and tenacity of principle and purpose which he showed in it made him the most prominent of Conservative statesmen and gained him the respect of his opponents. His work covered one of the most vital periods of Irish history, and in the face of open outrage, in the face of threats and insults; Balfour proceeded with his work, which consisted of the pacification and good government of Ireland. The real success of his policy is doubtful, however: he did reduce crime enormously in Ireland, but the criticism that he turned Ireland into an armed camp cannot be altogether denied.

In 1891 he became first lord of the Treasury and leader of the House of Commons. During his first tenure of this post he introduced a local government bill for Ireland, which was withdrawn just before the dissolution of 1892, a dissolution which led to the downfall of the Unionist party and the accession to power of the Liberals.

On the defeat of the Liberal party in 1895 he again became first lord of the Treasury and leader of the House of Commons in the administration of Lord Salisbury. During the early days of this second period of leadership Balfour's attitude on education questions called forth criticism not only from the Opposition but from his own party as well. His conduct of foreign affairs during the absence and illness of the Premier, Lord Salisbury, however, added very considerably to his reputation.

In July 1902 Lord Salisbury resigned and Balfour succeeded him as premier. The administration which followed is remembered chiefly for the fiscal questions which came to the fore. The Conservative Cabinet, surprised by the sudden proposals of Joseph Chamberlain, divided itself into two camps. Many resignations took place, but Balfour retained his position as premier, and declared himself in favour of a retaliatory tariff. In November 1905 the government resigned and a new government was formed by Campbell-Bannerman. The general election which followed brought about the complete downfall of the Unionist party; Balfour himself was defeated in East Manchester, a seat he had held for 20 years. A safe seat was found for him in the City of London.

In 1911 he resigned his leadership of the party on the grounds of ill health. He remained an MP, but until the outbreak of war in 1914 he lived in comparative retirement, although speaking strongly, both in and out of Parliament against Home Rule for Ireland and the disestablishment of the Church in Wales. He devoted some of his new-found leisure to giving addresses on literature and philosophic subjects. On the formation, in 1915, of the first coalition Cabinet, he became first lord of the Admiralty. When Lloyd George succeeded Asquith as prime minister, Balfour accepted the foreign secretaryship, an office in which he had had some experience. Balfour was also one of the four members of the War Cabinet.

After the First World War he was the second British representative at the conference which assembled in Paris in January 1919. Shortly after the Peace of Versailles was signed he left the Foreign Office and became lord president of the Council, in 1919. About this time he was elected chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He did not again hold Cabinet office. In February 1920 he presided at the first meeting of the council of the League of Nations and remained the British representative of the League until he retired from office in October 1922. In July 1921 he had accepted the invitation of President Harding to an international conference to be held at Washington, to deal with the limitations of armaments and to discuss Far East and Pacific problems. He visited Palestine in 1925 to open the University of Jerusalem. He had been associated with the government policy on Palestine enunciated in 1917. On his return he became lord president of the Council in Baldwin's second ministry, and took charge of the Civil Research Committee.

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