Baldwin, Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl

Baldwin (of Bewdley), Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl

Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, 1932.

(credit: Bassano and Vandyk)

(born Aug. 3, 1867, Bewdley, Worcestershire, Eng.—died Dec. 14, 1947, Astley Hall, near Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire) British politician. After managing his family's large industrial holdings, he became a Conservative member of the House of Commons (1908–37). He served as financial secretary of the treasury (1917–21) and president of the Board of Trade (1921–22), then was appointed prime minister (1923–24, 1924–29, 1935–37). He proclaimed a state of emergency in the general strike of 1926 and later secured passage of the antiunion Trade Disputes Act. As prime minister after 1935, he began to strengthen the British military while showing little public concern about the aggressive policies of Germany and Italy. He was criticized for not protesting the Italian conquest of Ethiopia. In 1936 he satisfied public opinion by procuring the abdication of Edward VIII, whose desire to marry divorcée Wallis Simpson, Baldwin believed, threatened the prestige of the monarchy.