Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905.
Balfour was born in East Lothian on 25 July 1848, the son and grandson of Scottish MPs. However, his own initial interests were not political. He enjoyed music and poetry, and was first known as a renowned philosopher, publishing ‘A Defence of Philosophic Doubt’, ‘The Foundations of Belief’ and ‘Theism and Humanism’.
In 1874 he was elected the Conservative Member of Parliament for Hertford. Four years later he became private secretary to Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Lord Salisbury, then Foreign Secretary in Benjamin Disraeli The Earl of Beaconsfield’s government.
In 1885 Balfour was a member of Randolph Churchill’s ‘Fourth Party’ group (distinct from the Conservatives, Liberals and Irish Nationalists), which brought down William Ewart Gladstone’s government with a motion opposing the Home Rule for Ireland Bill.
Later on he joined the Cabinet as Secretary for Scotland and then for Ireland under Lord Salisbury. Despite widespread doubt that he was up to the demanding job of Irish Secretary, Balfour proved to be a tough incumbent, restoring the rule of law. His land development legislation was considered well-judged and has been credited with calming the Irish conflict for a generation.
In 1891 Balfour became First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the Commons. He regained the same positions on the Conservatives’ re-election in 1895.
When Lord Salisbury retired, Balfour became Prime Minister, but his cabinet split on the free trade issue and his relations with the king were poor. Defeats in the Commons and in by-elections led to his resignation in December 1905.
In the Liberal landslide that followed, Balfour lost his own seat but returned via a by-election soon after. He continued to lead his party until 1911 but, despite stepping down, his career was far from over and he became First Lord of the Admiralty in the wartime coalition, then Foreign Secretary. At this time he wrote a letter, which has become known as the Balfour Declaration, stating the government’s view to “favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” on the understanding that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.”
For the greater part of the 1920s he was Lord President of the Council until Stanley Baldwin’s government fell in 1929.
Arthur James Balfour died in Surrey on 19 March 1930.
