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Williamson, Philip (1999) 'Stanley Baldwin : conservative leadership and national values.', Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
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ocale = enG B
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Introduction:
Few
British
the historical
have
leaders
problem
been
and sigso successful
few
have
Baldwin.
Yet
suffered
so much
as
nificarnt
later
biographers
in
belittlement
and
and abuse
retirement,
and
difficulty
in producing
have had considerable
historians
plausible
political
Stanley
for
explanations
him
about
his ascendancy.
More
has been
nonsense
than
written
This has
modern
prime
minister.
about any other
for wider
had consequences
of twentieth-century
understandings
his
integral
interpretations
Britain,
to several
of
politics
are
as
long-term
Conservative
debates:
the
electoral
party's
on
major
dominance,
Britain's
This
life.
on constitutional
imperial,
industrial,
book
Rather,
tics,
assessing
larger
issues,
and
and
culture',
decline.
its
primarily
with recounting
his
defining
the
nature
of
upon
its
expressions,
examining
sources,
It
impact.
on
Baldwin's
is not concerned
it concentrates
identifying
its
`national
on
international
issues,
aims
to
to
poliand
fuller
a
of
grasp
Conand success of modern
for
creating
new
a method
contribute
the character
especially
doing
it
In
so,
suggests
servatism.
directing
leaders,
by
British
attention
political
understandings
of'
functions
just
to
their
their widest
towards
not
particular
public
but
to their relationships
with the elecroles,
party and ministerial
interaction
the
to
their
torate,
and
parties,
and
media,
opposing
`political
culture'.
with
I
Baldwin
Conservative
was
leader
for
fourteen
years
from
1923
to
from
times,
three
1923 to 1924,1924
1937, and prime
minister
He led his party
to larger
to 1929, and 1935 to 1937.
electoral
four
leader.
If
his
than
twentieth-century
party
any other
victories
years,
from
1931
to
193,,,
deputy
as
to MacDonald
within
the
2
Stanley Baldwin
longer
he
led
it
for
included,
`-National' government
a
also
are
his
Thatcher.
What
in
makes
period
office than anyone except
is
that these successes were achieved
career still more significant
Bonar
brief
from
Law's
Aside
in new and difficult
conditions.
first
ConservaBaldwin
in
(seven-month)
the
tenure
1922-3,
was
democracy,
to
truly
tive prime minister
mass
with
preside over a
female
as well as male, and overwhelmingly
universal suffrage feature
He
first
the
to
on the modern
was certainly
working class.
bear
film.
first
He
the
to
mass media of. radio and sound
was the
depression
impact
and mass
political
economic
of' prolonged
in
the traditional
and mining
manufacturing
unemployment
highly
first
face
the
to
politia major socialist party and
areas, and
became
first
leaderleadership.
He
the
trade-union
of oppocised
Labour
to
to
a
government,
and the only prime minister
sition
by
His
in
1922
reputation
confront
a general strike.
was made
from
helping to free the Conservative
party
a coalition
governhe
led
it
into
in
1
y3
1
another and more enduring coalitment, vet
ion. During his leadership
the British overseas dominions
moved
from Empire to C.omnmonwealth, and Indian nationalists
mounted
last
The
their greatest civil-disobedience
great strugcampaigns.
between
free
fOught,
trade
gle
and protection
was
and sterling
devaluation.
Baldwin
its
first
and most spectacular
was
suffered
leader
be
by
Stalinist
first
Conservative
to
the
confronted
and
also
fascist ideologies, and the first who had to justify rearmament
to
horrors
bombardthe
an electorate
apprised of'
of' modern aerial
in
feeling,
its
in
intertrust
anti-war
and
placing
ment, steeped
He
to
national
remains the only prime minister
peace-keeping.
have superintended
a royal abdication.
for the leader of a party
Such were the hazardous conditions
long identified
hierarchy,
privilege,
monarchy,
property,
with
finance,
imperialism,
Not
the
and
armed services.
simply
sound
Conservative
but
interests
the very structures
party
and values
interests
those
seemed under threat, and there
which sustained
how
disagreements
Conservatives
best
among
about
were sharp
Baldwin's
to react. In these circumstances
resilience and success
have
Few
political
careers
veered so often
were remarkable.
between
high
low
fie survived
troughs.
such
peaks and such
by
two
attempted
several party rebellions,
and
coups
senior colfrom conservative
leagues. He suffered sustained criticism
masscirculation
newspapers, and the most serious organisational
and
Introduction:
his
time
Neville
and
Edward
Chamberlain,
but
192g,
and
the
of
share
est
both
on
personal
of
by
only
an
an
Commons
of'
his
party
honours
and
to
like
to
said
the
be
in
opponents
enjoyed
iq3os
mid
surpassed
him
Conat
'little
short
in
speaking
brawling
overall
in the
twentieth-
' During
church'.
the
in
public
Churchill's
the
ne\. %
a time
at
his
`loaded
words,
of
House
the
popular
applause
with
leader
he
a party
retired
just
from
tributes
not
wvarin
amidst
enshrined
in
criticise
while
larg-
also
ascendancy,
was
the
elections
other
again
To
1945-
1930s
almost
in
any
national
shared
for
Unusually
own
choosing,
but
from
his
and
him
he
Queen.
and
mid
the
seemed
Coronation
1937
King
of
'it
than
192os
two
Baldwin
times.
triumphs
interrupted
TN1P
and
1923
an
when
last
the
in
in
recouped
Conservatives
amply
1935,
modern
of
during
meetings
If
seats,
extraordinary
from
194()
Churchill
servative
blasphemy'.
the
support
opponents
were
and
200
over
retained
their
King
elections,
general
Conservatives
and
vote
defeats
Those
parliamentary
leader.
In the
party
century
he commanded
two
1q24,1931,
Temple,
Bishop
denied
majority.
parliamentary
landslide
of'
victories
more
lost
He
occasions
popular
majorities
secured
the largest
popular
He
Beaverbrook,
Churchill.
and
3
owners.
newspaper
figures
leading
the
of
public
many
of
Birkenhead,
Austen
MacDonald,
Asquith,
or out-manoeuvred
George,
Lloyd
VIII,
problem
by
mounted
ever
challenges
electoral
defeated
the historical
own
with
'
esteem'.
II
The
in
problems
succession
torical
of
unusually
His
rise
by
magnified
simple,
man..
prime
to
C.
Prtru",
1. Ramuirn.
.
rc.
:; -'4.
Churchill.
Bclatrdiv
-
(. hanten
career
generated
divided,
and
amorphous
had
been
perplexed
high
'to
Worcestershire
pigs"
contemporaries
have
rapid
office
was
his
insistence
that
own
jocular
public
statement
minister
keep
Baldwin's
unpleasant,
His
reputations.
him.
to
interpreting
that
1.ye
looked
the
read
came
o/. 11t
he
to
books
define
(1 c),7)cr), pp.
and
he
unexpected,
was
a week
forward
to
I want,
image,
an
to
Ifir,,
The
º7
t;
but
T.. ]unc",.
an
bx
before
to
retiring
live
decent
a
ordinary,
he became
his
native
life,
a problem.
and
Ile
Bald%A in*, 1)N7>' p. ,, u.
irc" and Sinclair
in ll(. Deb
'tit. ºrrlc"\
and 13alda in (º 97K ), P. :;. r t; ltt
: 1.ýe n/ Bal/our
.
tit(2-.
I
Baldwin.
4 (: { 1 :11av t 4:;; ): (: ripps
c):; 7, SB 1.,-, 2, :; t: 1tav
7hr Second World It itr, vol. I: The (; alhenrr,,,
Storm
( ºy-tt{l.
p. t 8.
in The T, mrs. 2:: 1taC 102't.
repurtrd
to
his-
a surprise
just
also
a
170,
W.
S.
Stanley
4
had
been
industrialist,
an
a politician
who
could
interests
and
cultural
disdained
impulsive,
He
made
cal
vulnerable
searched
for
predicted
Within
that
able
enduring
life.
No
he
no
puzzle
at
the
in
which
Bald-win's
prime
so
accepted
the
across
1 c), j()
was
speech
by-election
defeat
German
danger
had
election
seized
East
at
and
been
\\-on
in
savagely
nation
had
lie
power.
(,.
A.
Lr/r.
littler
icr);
,i
been
for
(. trtarn
ýulý.
rsantinatum.
( Itl;,
'; -: r).
P
srr
u/
Stcrnlet
II.
.itý:
Wlliatu,
L.
Ba/di,
rrr.
atmosphere
.
'lialthNln'ý,
'
widely
into
it
November
it
a
until
deterrence,
the
vividly
in
Frank
severe
in
and
(..)w-en)
the
1cf3; )
diploGuilt)
and
the
popular
betrayed
the
ruthless
party
nlan-
nothing
except
retaining
because
he
precisely
was
fmGeorge
Orwell
man',
or
Itl,.
NN'
t-8;
llrrrulr.
.
'
( ltl;
Sired.
ilil;
The
L.
S.
r
un.
an
of
minlnllse(1
and
by
tl_ýti),
Unrr
in
deceived
simple
(t
and
Rowse
had
Irnßurtnrrrr
an
expanded
Most
a `little
`Cato'
People
ftuhrrtti.
and
sentences.
had
Ineffective
sustained
doing
for
ordinary
simple;
B.
Baldwin
preference.
he
i,
Howard,
A.
few
following
rearmament
Peter
by
that
were
reverses.
article
always
(: archnrt.
rn(ºt),
I'nlrhrnl
an
seemed
and
ordinary
military
Foot,
was asserted
because
his
agement,
h'nldr,
and
so
that,
1y,;,
in
victim
passage
British
in
became
and
in
thought
`anti-appeasers
proof
resulting
-
(Michael
'Cato'
as
upon
Fulham
'
created
misjudged
delayed
humiliation,
press,
A
memoirists
of'interwar
public
has collapsed
so
rearmament
spectrum,
and
many
upon
and
by
Conservative
Indictment.
('olTlprehenslve
turned
Dunkirk
political
`enigma',
an
a principal
reputation
German
to
reactions
became
Con-
opponents.
retirement
minister's
criticisms
earlier
a politi-
historian'.
elements
of'war,
successes.
and
dominant
nor
swiftly,
outbreak
he
as
the
with
great
irremovable,
as
future
years
sedate
and
landscape.
political
Profile-writers
the
two
both
seem
him
he
Dramatic
speeches.
during
his first
ministerial
all,
of
and
Munich,
his
of'
former
completely
[in
would
'puzzle
years
other
it
of'
the
was
literate
intellectuals;
formidable
most
described
Baldwin.
denigration
by
a
impressive
the
'real'
the
four
was
most
beat
to
commentators
matic
dislike
to rebound
only
but
to be
proved
mistakes,
vet
temporary
Men
made
yet
serious
looked
often
innocent
there
paraded
He
a countryman.
had
He
non-political.
fortune
reversals
and
sharp
of'
deepened
He
the
mystery.
could
ineffective
appear
vet transform
leader
He
yet
be
to
seemed
to be
appeal-
oratory
decisions
as
yet
Baldwin
llruutattun*.
lurthccmunu.
Real
S'tnrrlrt
.
Atnrrý,
1/t
Introduction:
`simply
hole
a
in
the
the historical
" A
air'.
problem
legitimate
5
to
attempt
his
home,
his
preserve
to
the
requisitioned
gates
ornamental
property
own
hate
'
brought
for scrap
mail.
and
public
abuse
metal
violent
left
from
Much
the
prewho
on
came
writers
of' the
criticism
Labour
Liberal
f'erred
to government
to forget
and
opposition
during
rearmament
Conservative
Churchillian
Men
By
speeches.
innumerable
interwar
from
the
by
'great
received
the
Churchill
1" To
country'.
this
was
credible
failure
the
economy,
extended
- political
issues
depression
to the
of economic
broad
A
Labour-C:
consensus,
imperial
ment.
A.
Salter,
Seruntr
.
L. Rowse,
A.
3! '1-7:
in
reprinted
pp.
t (º,
ºh-
For
the
E.
g.
'(;
. tore
of
t4-}.
Rarnsden,
Churchill
IO.,
as
an
The
M. P.
Lion
Hall
(tg.
on
uj
an
and
Lord
1: ßo-h
the
Kates
}4).
Bald%s
M447).
1 "nirurn
and
p.
in'.
1'.
pp.
11941:
examples
i,:
-ilrn
Political
L.
ol'thr
Ilorabin,
indictment:
excludes
putting
party
historiography
democrat
social
and
alternative
charges
-
even
of' neglect
and
and
mass
unemployhiirchillian-Keynesian,
(Jut
1(404
Quarterh
77-89:
Penguin
abuse.
Politico
17-21.25-7.
pp.
(I
12
press
rein,
see
(4
t ),
extracts
WHO
M&B
Afadr
.}),
pp.
Plain
3"5-1
in
p.
\1&B
,, ti.
ºcº,,
fi--Ei,;.
(Penguin
49-5(1-
O
The
M&B
p.
I072.
-
15).
1,{ße n/ Churchill
fin. and srr
h'rlrn
An exception
?
(t
44rº1,
and
p.
pp. 171-2.
.
I l)lgg.
The 1. r4t Wa% frier
i5Right
(194: 7) I. pp. ;, 4.57.
(: athenn,;
Storer,
697,
M(º. t li t.
p.
see
181.198.199.
and
pp.
.
io,
,
to the Baldwin
nevertheless
memorial,
and spoke
contributed
at its unvriline
\e as Q.
Churchill,
in
pp.
1".'nd
Astlrý
the
a
(=u, It
'(: wo'.
19-4-7:
Ions
The
Your
}).
pp.
'Reflect
Orwell.
raechus',
special,
j
G.
7.
not
protectionism
(i939A
Rosse.
was
a
Churchill's
problems'.
Keynesian
which,
discounting
(plate
of'
'conf'esses
a
was
home
1937
the
foreign
added
Baldwin
in
culture,
in the
published
in
the
and
and
imprimatur
forgetting
that
from
principal
memorial
his Worcestershire
famously,
and,
politics
encapsulated
to
unchalin the
anthologised
or
a
a quar-
literature
election
acclaim
of' which
'aversion
manager',
from
office'
in
his
1947
in
erased
celebrations
near
index
the
been
English
roadside
his
national
now
verdict
party
before
to
contrast
memoirs,
war
the
-
quoted
of
by
themselves
cloaking
had
the
Beayerbrook
revenge
seeking
largely
it
went
and
addresses,
numerous
in
minister
avoided
celebrations
monument
it poignant
The
critical
name
his
equally
death
his
After
simple
-
Baldwin
1945
his
public
memory,
" Passages
from
1()4()s.
authors)
for
fostered
also
was
and
anti-
standard
preparing
criticism
proprietor
mantle.
vanished
" Yet
newspaper
the Guilty
a
publicists
pre-dated
rearmament,
Conservatives
no\%"
other
by
party's
radical
election.
general
of
long
that
rel
lenged
for
became
it
193os;
mid
weapon
post-war
Conservative
(employer
the
7,
6
Stan/er Baldwin
It
it
the
textbooks,
remains a
and
entered
entrenched.
hisby
better
impression,
the
even
some of'
perpetuated
common
"
Forty years after the war Michael Foot, by then Labour
torians.
block
brandishing
Guilt)'
leader
but
Alen,
to
a
party
still
was able
Baldwin
to
place a statue of,
alongside those of' other
proposal
'2
Houses
Parliament.
in
the
of
prime ministers
So compelling
were the perspectives of'the i 94os that they were
biographer,
G.
M.
Young,
by
Baldw-in's
and official
accepted
by
his
friend
did
be
damagingly
to
not
seem
contested
almost as
''
by
his
Cabinet
Tom
Jones,
nor
surviving
and chief obituarist,
,
"
during
General
Young
In
that,
the
mitigation
argued
colleagues.
had
Baldwin
Strike and the Abdication
preserved the
especially,
his
But
`explanations'
constitution
and national unity.
of'the main
further
indolence,
irresolcriticisms:
points of'censure only added
inattention
foreign
to
affairs, even negligence
of official
ution,
by an inordinate
duties, underlain
personal need to retain public
''
by
biographical
but
Baldwin,
a reluctant
subject
stung
affection.
lacked
had
been
in
his
'historical
perview
sense',
critics who
he
by
friends
Young
because
histo
thought
commission
a
suaded
Portrait of an Age (1936) and seemed to
torian who had written
distaste
his
in
f()r
'the
modern psychological
share
own
approach
biographies'
be
would
well equipped to `picture the mentality'
of
became
E. g. B. Pirnlott,
'Man.
More
Pygmies
than
(; tang.
Hitler'.
The Independent
on .Sundae,
4 April
Iu rearm against
iqq
: 'Bald.. in neglected
Deserves
Must
J. (: ritchlr\,
J. Ilavilan(l,
'Baldwin
'1\'h. v Baldwin
a Place in the Ilouse',.
letter,
The Time,, 27 Feb.. 5, to
Wait for his Commons
St attic',
and _Ith Earl Baldwin
March
(: rntun
Guilh
Men .. as rc-published
in ºy()8 as a Penguin
'1'.. wrntieth
I(82.
In Foot. The introduction,
h. John Stevenson,
(: Iasi('
(m), with a nr. % preface
gives
ho.
little
hook
has
the
Ohr
rtuhcation
withstood
subsequent
scholarl
nits
of
slightest
%
sc ruIin
.
Junes drafted
his obituary
in 1937. but \shrn revising
it to 1941 felt unable to 'appraise'
.
A, ). %Vhat stuck
b\
(Jones
the reartnanient
papers
and
was
cunirovers\
adoptr(I
Young
()nil
'indolence'.
tilt,
\%as
suggestion
a shortened
version
Was published
in
of
Lard Balduvn.
The Time.
1., Dec. 1(447. but the full text appeared
as a pamphlet,
:1
hook, to The Observer. Ifi \o%.
1lemnir ( 1947). Jones's
Young's
10't Its
revic%%
of
.
Jones's article
influenced
charges
intact,
and Y'oung's interpretation
c rntral
on Baldwin
in the
1). 1B.
i q),;
written
{. 1'rt as 'P. Q. R. ' in The .5'pr"etat(lr. 7 June 1y';. -, Jones had
.
.
Baldwin
for making
'no.. in operation
the 'drastic
praised
possible
air rearmament
The Spectator, 14 \o\.
ý :. g. reviews of (; MY In L. S Amrr\,
(Uuff
Iq, r2: Lord Norwich
Cooper).
The Dail) Mail,
Time and Tide. Ir Nov. I q., 2. Amen's
14 No . 10,7)2: W. Elliot,
influential.
critic isms in All Political Li/e became part i( ularl
(; MY,
106,120--2.126,1'_8,1(i7,182.200,204
esp. pp. 2a" rent-S, fi i ;. -, 2,100June I
Irss worried
Young had shown himself
markedly
al out (; erinanc
had alread\
been for two \tars:
see AWB pp. 34q-. r5o.
Ill
than
Baldwin
Introduction:
interwar
the
exactly
the
be
to
the
''
ground',
ation
`the
history
the
psychology
Young
adequate
replaces
However,
a reaction
with
on
win's
before
well
a
mandate
` The
ý ay.
the
1935
election,
to
expand
a
son
second
Jones"'
who
published
-
psychological
religion,
parents
and
for
appetite
the
C hurchillian-Labour
ignored.
`'" In
demic
detached
Jones
in
It.
(: MY
R.
The
A.
(if'
plainly
Young
11:
'Yelling
(arnhndge
BaldNm,
Journal
Jones
Did]
to
the
)än.
T a/Icrný
Truth
to
Sept.
People.
the
March
also
embarrassed
formative
about
deployed
had
from
signally
later
acathe
produce
first
-"
M&B
Gooier
Myth
the
Parliamenlan'
time
authority
[1 %rlttinolun
The
his
stimulated
Against
he
1q3os
1()44)-
194ä.
Young's
candour
conclusions
Blake
to
Dec.
0/ Dirt
SK-q;,,
2
letters.
22
his
assessment.
1 g41.2`;
Cooper,
an
Against
that
at
historical
Robert
enabled
Conservative)
conditions
had
sought
Baldwin's
the
of
source
27
(21-22,
pp.
-182.,,
H. Kingsmlll.
Prarson
and
Bassett,
W.
and
DL.
p.
psychological
Bald-
already
under
by Baldwin's
unintentionally
interpretations.
claiming
he
ways
anticipated
research,
to
although
account
these
he
vigorously
scrape
those
which
-
more
yet
historical
available
Debates
a schoolboy
to
was
rebuke
-
`confession'
election
presented
values
begun,
already
referred
counterblast.
he
and
supposition
which
private
absorbing
backthe
misrepresented.
that
most
source
interpretof*
alleged
fact
in
at
biographical
a
the
best
a
so
...
into
had
been
had
and
speculations
experiences,
f'ather's
had
pursued
after
-
as
strand
Baldwin's
rearmament
was
papers
temperamental
that
in
task
encouraged
Young
con-
what
private
explanation.
historiography
this
i q), 16 statement
reaction
for
persistent
of'rearmament
November
which
subject
further
and
or
demonstration
difficulties
the
to
his
the
of
another
psychological
historical
Bassett's
his
further
...
initiated
one
innuendo
of
7
approached
feared,
and
mov[ed]
where
-
had
speculation
inadequacies
Finding
material.
that
of
problem
however,
Baldwin
manner
substitution
sidered
'") Young,
years.
the
the historical
of
pp.
i tiny.
I ]()47)-
p.
papers
2.1.
the
Baldwin
i ()6.,
j: Baldwin
1 Mg.
«( : unfrstiion'"
2'M-42-
Jon, -, wrote
lq,,, i, (: 1'1. Ad(1.7938:
that
in
life I
Inch
has so shaken
a long
can't
recall
receiving
a letter
nie'.
A. W.
Baldwin..
tli
Father
The True
Ston
(ly,,,,
1). C.
). Another
notahle
riposte
was
Someryell,
Sianler
Baldwin.
In 1:'.%arnlnatrnn
Some Fealurr(
Mr. join,
', Biographi
(1 gr,,; ).
!I
q/
.
defence.
1). If. Barber.
there
Stanlei
Bald
and
as a lesser-known
pamphlet
q).
in (iq,,
R. Blake.
'Baldwin
the Right',
Blake
(ed. ). The Baldwin
and
(Ig6o).
in. ). Ra\mond
oe
-l,
.
had
Young's
(: hum-hill's
interpretations
in reviews
for
earlier
Braveraccepted
and
brook's
Ei enlng Standard,
The
Disastrous
Mr.
Bald Ni n' (1.
Winston
1! ).,-)2) and `Was
} Nov.
Fair
(2:, Sept.
to Baldwin"
icr, '; ).
2g.
,{1
Stanley Baldwin
8
With the opening of' government,
party, and personal records
from the late ig6os,
interwar
the
period
understandings
of'
historical.
brought
became more properly
The new evidence
fresh and
party and policy studies which stimulated
specialist
interpretations,
first
in
the
1969
more complicated
and
comprehensive, fully documented,
biography
by Keith Middlemas
and
John Barnes. It became possible to transcend
naive criticism
or
led
defence in favour of' understanding,
in
time to such a
and
Baldwin's
in
C;
that
the
19gos
reputation
a
rehabilitation
onof
him
servative prime minister could publicly claim
as a model, and
Labour
dedication
the
minister
prime
could speak at
it
of'a mem-"
him
in
Westminster
Abbey.
to
orial
Some recent historical studies have been perceptive about Bald'{
Nevertheless,
the general effect of* interpretations
win.
since the
i cf6os has been to re-cast him as an elusive figure. His public
display
the
position notwithstanding,
official and private records
him
firm
imprint
figure.
no
and persistent
as a commanding
of
Contemporaries
loss
his
dominance
frequently
to
at a
explain
from
Jones
it
'character',
to
ascribed
and subsequent
accounts ,
have
been
G.
M.
Young
not always
more substantial
and
onwards Middlemas
Barnes's
turns
new style' oHeadership
and
or precise.
-'{
be
little
basic
Various verto
than
more
man-management.
out
interpretation
Baldwin
himself
that
chose to project sions of' an
'niv worst enemy would not say of me that I did not know what
the reaction of'the English people would be to a particular
course
less
To
he
than
that
action'-''
are
explanations
of
evasions.
say
john
Blair in his address on iS
in iee)() and Tom
prime
minister
on hr(opting
I)r( rnthrr
death
both invoked
the fiftieth
ie)c); - marking
annicrrsan
of' Baldwirt's
111111
drasing
their own puhhe stators.
politician.
fºlainh
as .t 'consensual'
parallels
sith
Larlirr.
in ic)t)7, Sir Ldsard
Heath had slxokrn at a prisatr
House of'(: oinmuns
loot hewn
birth.
ihr
to eontmc"morate
the crntenarv
of Baldwin's
organising
included
committee
Lord (R. A. ) Butler.
Iiovd,
Lord and lads Davidson.
Sir (: rof"frr.
and Balch. iri's surviving
private
Notahl.
Major
secretaries.
M. cowling.
The Impart
Y) Labour
o/ Ilitlrr.
192n
1924 (Cambridge,
197 1), pp. 297-1oe).
The Impart
Brrtith
Politt(% and 13rttt. sh Polirr
1()7-8.421-2.
and
19331940
.
B. Schwarz.
Language
Bald((: anibndi;
'I'hr
e. 197. )), pp. 2. )9-7i:
of (: onstittitionalism:
in Formations o/ Nation and People (i98.4),
1).. Jarvis, 'Stanlr.
i-i8:
%%mite" Conservatism
,
Baldwin
to Socialism.
i e) t ti- t O, C( Phi)
and the Idrolo, g' of the (: unsc n: u nr Krslxºttsc
thesis, I. nisc"rsit.
199)i: hereafter
thesis').
to he published
cited as jarvis
of Lancaster.
as (. oncer, alize Ideolo, gi and the Response to Socialtsnt 1911,1931.
K. NtiddIrnias.
M&B cit. tli, esp. PP- 488-91.
The Prime Ministers. 2 soil. (iq rt), n. 2.5.5-ti.
(t(1 I)re.
E. g.. \bdication
in
SOL
73
p.
speech.
'Stanlrs,
Baldwin',
te),; h): (: ýIl'
to 11. %-anThal
PI). 54,1 20.
.
(rd. ).
Introduction:
`Englishness'
embodied
has always
looks
period
a rare
his
to
power
ting
Liberal,
ar\,
non-
always
easily
or
or
let
parties,
the
to
independent
him
is
ciliatory
differences,
to
dismissive
more
interwar
Blake,
thr
the
(( )xfurd,
faint
v.-eil
made
(1 r)5.1),
171-2.
See
.
1":.
g.
Blakr,
Politics.
Ic"d.
Ball,
J.
and
in
), How
Baldwin
Ramsde"n,
Frlnr
lyre-.
the
R:
2fi;
stable
constructed.
perspective)
these
practice
'not
leadership
of
to
popular
create
people's'
mass
of' the
interpret-
or
that
significant
had
skills
new
of'
media.;
in
effect,
he was
cominuni' But
these
13a1/me and
unsde"n,
vote.
sec
B.
and
Art.
Ral/nur
(: overnrrrerNt
Fall
and
the CancPnntirr
'Baldwin
and
(1092)"
ºc)fiHº,
R.
13ald: e in. pp.
1For
-,
Mc1\. ihhin,
The, Ideulu(irec
o/ (aas%
Film,
Ittt.
The
(: asc"
2., -6:
of "Fwo
Knldre"rn.
and
(ryc)ti),
Yartr.
N.
1211-8;
p.
p
(. nn. wn
the
and
",, Jnurnal
Rc-rrstored".
'Baldwin
1º1,.
in
Rrstorc"d.
'Baldwin
Right',
13a1d: ern
nlrr
r
Yarlt.
The
8-
p.
'llalantrnt,
.
6.
ch.
the
Ball,
S.
207-8:
pp.
1.. Mmvat.
and
and
t5
of
and
ticutttsh
thr
rn,
C.
Ramsdrn,
7nr7"
and
spirit
All
the
is certainly
in
p.
Haýcn,
also
'Baldwin
1()7.
of
{ýrý+
Propaganda
1 1977),
hollow
trustworth,,
Right'.
12-14
pp.
presumes
on
the
and
mood
it
and
13alrlu
and
1y31
thesls.
simply
2ti4.
1921'ý--
Jarvis
politics
of'
questions.
or
the
again,
tlir
p.
13a1/nrn
of
to
platform
t yyer),
success
(depending
conception
neutral,
significancr
Ranrsden,
if' larger
and
and
tndreattvr
A
grander
or
he encapsulated
that
sincere
'BaldNvin
(. nNf
still
Then
on
the
over
`react
non-leadership.
cation
politi-
as `consensual',
moderate,
or conhe
deliberately
when
sharpened
Strike
General
1924
and
and
at the
Baldwin's
to
considered
competing
some
manifest
he defined
and
to
opiin
developing
Baldwin's
in
repeatedly
passive,
was essentially
feeling',
but
or
were
'public
that
the
`middle'
pre-existed
yiewv,
begs
similar
age-"'
imply
that
ations
said
electors
of
than
by
reaction-
unambiguously
disregard
periods
notably
2' A
elections.
r
cent
assumes
Ascribing
'centre'
having
than
rather
describe
r O'
of
per
reflect
something
Conservative,
degrees
rather
was
media.
the
also
entity,
what
`centre'
f'Orrn,
To
alone
political
a
It
also
over'" Attribuand
formed
substantial
45
miners,
interpret
intrinsically
Over
socialist.
the
occupation
that
in
and
with
share:
in Scotland.
opinion'
and
anti-Conservative.
existed
as an
nion'
dynamic
relationship
cal
`public
that
Englishness
It
'
to
ability
special
diffuse,
Labour,
which
Durham
did
extent
success
identifiable,
divided,
than
rather
some
assumes
opinion`?
public
homogeneous,
to
what
contested:
City
financiers
and
Conservative
of*
9
problem
and
farmers,
Worcestershire
the
overlooks
diverse
been
the historical
p.
ibid.
to
epigraph
M&B.
Wurcrstrrshtrr
2c17:
S.
1).
W.
n/
Ball,
}. {
.
p.
fi-l
(1072).
1).
\-iii:
Lads".
'iyr
Ilr(tori
Modern
y. ),
(: ann:
Midland
finr.
11111117
in
t)2y'"
and
A.
4
tic"Idun
2tcr.
N.
Prunaý
and
1. Rurnsdc"tt,.
In
Spring
. "lhhetrle
(eds.
for
), 1'rojrqganda.
1'oicer.
A
Hr. rlun
I'olrhr
c>/ th,
Stanley Baldwin
1O
describe
forms of delivery, empty in themselves,
rather than the
believing
for
qualities
creating a
audience: substance and purpose.
There are other lines of' inquiry
organisational,
- structural,
ideological
Baldwin himself matthat
sociological,
which
suggest
tered very little, and that his long period of prominence
owed as
had
his
fortunate
to
much
circumstances
as
original
rise to the
The
1918 redistribution
premiership.
of parliamentary
seats, the
Ireland,
Conservative
the
the
192 1 partition
of
and
efficiency of'
Conservative
the
party machine;
preference of newly enfranchised
broader
the
tax-payers,
-omen voters,
social composition
of'direct
the division
the steady rise in real incomes;
of' the antiConservative
Liberal
disintegration,
the troubles of' the
vote,
party
first two Labour governments:
together these certainly
explain a
deal
So,
great
about interwar Conservative
more recently,
success.
do important
interwar
Conservative
analyses of'
propaganda,
seen
`conventional
as promoting
anti-collectivist
and anti-inflationary
hostile
wisdoms' and
stereotypes
of' the trade-unionised
working
'
Plainly
Baldwin's
enough,
class.
power and success were no more
his own unaided creation
than were those of' any other political
leader. Yet these approaches do not register the large and distinctive impression he made upon the public mind. Nor do they accombelief that he constituted
modate the widespread contemporary
a
force
himself'.
in
political
and an electoral asset
The nature of' writing
Baldwin
is
it
that
about
so peculiar
can
in
the strict sense of the word, incredproduce verdicts which are,
ible. Although
now properly discounted
as a specific explanation
for Baldwin's
calling of the 192,; election, it is still asserted as
interpretation
his
that
general
chief' political
aim, an 'obsession'
his
`sustained
which
career', was to exclude Lloyd George from
he
by
fundathis
the
office" when
was confronted
rather more
direct-action
mental
challenges
newly
of'
emergent
socialism,
(, oncenatire
Parti
crone /, Y3n ( 1908).
pp. 2. _;-6:
BaII, Balduvin
and the Conserratire
Partr,
pp.
The
\1'isdorn:
Ihr
(: onsrrvatIV(
'(. lass and Conventional
seminal
essay is R. J1cKihhin,
Parts and thr "Public"
Britain'.
See also
in Intrr+ar
in his Ideologies of (Ja. s.s, fill.
1). Jarvis. 'British
(: onsrr"atism
in the 102os'. English Hzsloncal Re, ieu
and (. lass Politics
( 1006). !
iii
)9-84Peel
R. Blake, The (,o mmr,,
Part
to Churchill (197"
from
alive
r(In), pp. 220.222,227,236:
J. (: arnphrll. 'Stanlcv- Baldwin',
.Tirentiet/r (. enlun.
(
(rd. ). British Prime .1linicters of the
2 vols. 1977). 1. to and passim; M. Pugh, The Making o/ Modern British
Polities 1867--1939 (()xfo>r(l. tq 2). pp. 220.27,4: Ball, Baldwin and the, (, on.servative Partl.
p. H. This interpretation
originated
Mackintosh
P.
J.
in i
and
Jonrs
w,
with.
\rnrrV.
:
Introduction:
trade
and
unionism,
BaldNvin's
that
party
back
`English
to
in
the
defined
still
came
A
recent
in
terms
of'
his
as
for
those
responsible
Equally
ill.
much
his
vet
his
of
statesman
in
interesting
have
would
result
time.
chiefly
understood
is
it
Baldwin
and
unionist,
be
inter-
Conservatives
con-
surprised
actually
Church-
colleagues
Chamberlain
and
Neville
-
little
had
Cabinet
the
conclusions
speeches
and
imperial
policies'
but
as
policies
curious
of
should
social
interpretations,
almost
'{
we are
Empire'
from
a `retreat
he himself
Britain;
contribution
and
economic
earlier
Baldwin
leading
as the
that
claim
rest
imperialist
as
regarded
tradicting
from
even
or
themselves
to be
the
Again,
in
that
and
ii
regimes.
engaged
was
nationalism',
Empire
problem
totalitarian
aggressive
told
est
the historical
when
a couple
of passages
industrial
paternalism
and
old-fashioned
last
the
the English
now
countryside
as often
quoted
and antholhad
been.
it
in
interwar
the
taken
to
as
years
are
ogised
encapsulate
his
Martin
book
WWti'iener,
in
influential
themes.
essential
a
him
in
the
g8os,
i
politicians
among
and
publicists
made
symbolic
a
of'
")
country's
...
problems';
intense
public
spread
tradition
11akin.
The Tor
o/ Modern
1994),
J. Wiener,
1 O81
),
has
been
could
e.
Polrhn,
err.
211-I
pp.
I:
100-2,
(: annadinc.
and
index
to
go
who
Stanley
heart
the
not
but
years,
vision
he had
that
only
as
no
his
of
survived
commanded
wide-
interpretative
poverty
of* the
Robert
Skidelsky's
glib
Baldwin
is
i
19 35 (Oxford.
r)8,, ), pp. 184Call JAW ll. 'Bald%%111 p.
2q(:
-S.
.
188o-
pp.
paradox:
he
that
was
27
1
Pugh.
also
o:
Ramsdcn,
Conservative
(: rntun
21
,;.
in
and
A.
1).
the Decline
Seddon
and
S.
Ball
(cds.
).
of
Industrial
the
S'prrrt
.
I85O-
1980
(Cambridge.
211.
Propaganda
'Politics,
to
indus-
-
Culture
ný/tsh
is claimed
modern
of
Baldwin's
leader
a
about
(: enturv',
:4 2-4
large
a
"
Bntish
Irl).
It
create
holdings
the
produce
and the People
pp.
own
to
'antiindustrialists,
most
presented
was
fourteen
thing
'(: onscn-ativc
(Oxford,
I).
Balder
and
Seldon,
NI.
yet
for
this
uninteresting'.
Pugh.
A.
it
interesting
completely
.
Ilal four
''
Such
that
most
M.
could
scrutiny
respect.
to
escapist'.
be bothered
and
by
supported
helping
years
continued
have
similarly
`never
and
of
he
irrelevant
backward-looking
was
twenty
and
Others
`unrealistic,
culture
party
spent
firm,
shares.
ideas',
his
yet
had
industrial
'the
English
supposed
industrialism';
he himself'
trial
about
and
Art.
pp.
Campbell.
104-,:
'Baldwin'.
pp.
210,
2 16.
R.
Skidclskv.
Jenkins.
Baldwin
Interests
and
( 14 8 7).
Obse%oon.
Selected
Essars
(lyy,;
).
p.
1,,
from
his
repieý.
of
R.
12
Stanlei' Baldwin
III
dominant
the
that
so
a
present study proceeds
view
be
that on the contrary study of
politician
cannot
uninteresting;
Baldwin raises central historical
questions which if intelligently
broader
Conservatism
the
and
addressed can reveal much about
interwar
It
the
political
culture of'
years.
contains an account of'
his
life.
It
Baldv in's mature career, and an examination
early
of'
being
is not, however, a biography,
in the conventional
sense of'
life.
because
This
is
the
of a
not simply
structured
as
chronicle
but rather because of
Baldwin already has numerous biographers,
biography
in
the
as applied
scepticism about
value of
- certainly
flow of' biographies
British
twentieth-century
the relentless
on
leadership
Indeed,
Baldwin's
the
politicians.
unusual character of
him
difficult
biography,
fur
traditional
makes
an especially
subject
in ways which expose the shortcomings
of the genre.
for underBiographical
information
is manifestly
important
leadership,
full-scale
biographies
be
may
political
standing
and
in
opening the study of recent periods and subjects where
valuable
documented
has
been
But
research
not previously
undertaken.
broadly
historical
have
researched
proceeded,
once more
studies
biography rarely brings further illumination.
life
Narration
is
a
of
but
it
is
the
not obviously a
easy on
mind of author and reader,
Too
form
it
is
powerful or even an effective
of explanation.
often
for
All
a substitute
such explanation.
accounts of' the past are
kind,
but
biography
the
tendency
political
abstractions
of some
of
is to abstract in particularly
For
leadmisleading ways.
all political
ers are enveloped and entangled
within a mass of' pressures and
from
their
colleagues,
expectations
civil
servants,
own party actifrom
Parliament,
their
the media, sectional
vists, and
opponents;
from
different
groups, voters;
and sometimes conflicting
policies,
from
irresistible
force
the
and
and often
unpredictable
of' events.
In reacting to such pressures, thew cannot escape being substantially diverted and shaped by them. Their careers lose the linear
by
biography.
It
is
trajectory
and self-propelled
assumed
a comBaldwin's
have
been
that
nmonplace
political eminence could never
life
before
from
his
October
but
it
is
1922;
predicted
equally true
his
that if' he could have substantially
controlled
own career it
have
different
from
taken
would on several occasions
quite
courses
those it actually took between May 1923 and May 1937The
from
Introduction:
Then
party
of
weight
ders
partly
has
which
which
in
personality,
he
of
evidential
for
significance
impose
to
able
genre
notably
-
on
in attempts
-
to
would
seem
study
descriptive,
nor
political
almost
sense,
their
whole
uncertainties,
leadership
The
the
and
-
second
small
number
importance,
as
merit
beyond
biographical
(: uvdhng.
Britrdh
men!
Impact
tlhe
Impact
first.
o/ Ilitler
nn.
aJ Lahour
Politics.
the
1933e-12-
of
politicians
extended
narrative,
1920-
1924,
Econorn)
and
The
best
1940.
major
poli-
interpretative,
not
of
whole
placed
not
poli-
one
system
of
full
the
within
properly
the
explain
for
the
pressures,
which
-
chronic
afflict
all
political
is that
appropriate
here.
in
book,
this
by
originality
as well
It
to go
attention.
seeks
to
ask
who,
individual
in
`times',
accounts
now
exist
" Their
leadership.
insights
followed
approach,
the
approaches.
the
contexts
which
high-political
short
for granted
taken
the
are
and
of'
is
of
bio-
of' the
the
rather
the
of
Barnes
of
narrative
tactical
and
horizons
situational
are
the
Baldwin's
of
in
-
party,
one
Here
individuals
period
remorseless
accounts
to
political
extended
Middlemas
their
are
few
a
by a
so only
complementary
but
careers.
The
understanding
where
Such
politicians
long
enough
supplied
limitations
descriptions
politics'
multi-policy
and
the
`high
genuine
of
system,
be
can
of
two
require
few
into
complete
to
of'
even
of
leadership.
multi-party
details
of
for
much
for
and
pages
meaning
most
the
simply
for
sufficiently
inexorably
supply
the
is
the
are
principle,
ticians
tician
drawn
lead-
therefore,
not,
self-evident
development
from
the
aside
-
- reveals
Moreover,
as
thousand
and
is
and
the
itself,
in
exploit,
lives
of
the
raises
career.
to
trv
the
with
force
a
or
literally,
character
of a political
biographical
than
more
attention
Vational
Dictionan'
Biography'
of .
entry.
by
indicated
the
that
are
way
all
Baldwin
One
it
themselves
course
graphies
In
It
psychological
a public
becomes
Quite
upon
persona
links
tenuous
respect
own.
problems
obvious
good
must
becomes.
their
not
are
examination
the
he
feels
imposed
imagined
or
lea-
political
have
partly
it
yet
that
mean
the
and
persuasion
constructed
have
only
may
13
political
and
This
It
sense
politicians
affect
deserve
themselves,
individual
some
of
problem
expectations
personality.
private
the
that
for
properties.
politician's
task
electoral
create
unusual
ing
and
a public
them,
imperative
the
again,
the historical
order
Y. Williamsun..
Empirestatement
their
questions
Vatr(onal
1932
1y26
of
't
hr
(Cambridge.
character
and
about
.
Tat
10g2):
of' high
urral
the
(: rrrrrn
(: O%%-Iing.
is in
politics'
14
Stanley Baldwin
,
leadership.
The
that
nature and practice
of political
qualities
distinguish
really
and explain a politician's
effectiveness are manifested less in the linear succession of' particular
in
than
events
longer-term
consistencies
or patterns
which, as the narrative
best
biographies
in
indicate,
the
are revealed more
suspensions
by
More
than
effectively
an analytical,
rather
narrative,
structure.
likely
be
in
these
to
particularly,
qualities are
revealed
speeches in public presentation
and argument.
Attention
here.
to speeches is part of the originality
claimed
Speech
has
been
the
political
rhetoric
rarely
main source
"'
historical
because
for
This
is
insufmaterial
recent
partly
work.
ficient thought is given to matching
sources and questions: questions are addressed to inappropriate
sources, or else particular
sources are approached with questions to which they cannot supply
leadership
is
answers. It is also because the 'reality'
of political
presumed to reside overwhelmingly
among the private or organisletters,
diaries,
ational evidence of'
memoranda,
and minutes, so
that - except for the occasional major pronouncement
- speeches
or other public
statements
are treated
as supplementary
or
inferior sources. Where the questions are to do with policy formadetailed
tion, decision-making,
tactics,
party
private opinion, and
this is obviously correct. Here public statements
motivation,
will
Historians
do
not yield answers.
not assume that a politician's
book
the
speech - or article or
states
complete or even partial
grounds for a particular
action, nor that it reveals his full, or even
belief
issue.
For
these aspects of' politics, the
any,
about a specific
problematic
nature of speeches and publications
as public and rhetorical statements
- necessarily concerned more with persuasion
description
is
than
and concealment
with
and explanation
well
understood.
Yet amidst the rich private evidence it can be forgotten
that
just
tacticians,
politicians
are not
policy-makers,
and administrators. They are also public figures for whom speech-making
and
function,
because
is
is
publication
principal
a
precisely
politics
a
because
public activity
they need to win support for themand
Fur tiut; gc"stnr cummc"rºts on thc" sºguificancc
see M.
and pussihihtic"s of such material,
Brntlcy, 'Parth-, I)octrinc and ThuuKht', in M. Bentley
(eds. ). High and
Stevenson
J.
and
Luu Polctºccºn Modern
Britain (()xf'urd. ºyH {), pp. º2,;
and H. C. G. !11.ºtthcýc, 'Rhe"t-,
º°i
Britain,
Great
1).J. 11'allcr (rd. ), Politio and Social
uric and Politics in
ºSfic>-tin
(.han.ýP ºn Modern Britain (Brighton, t c)fi i), pp.
Introduction:
their
while
parties,
historians
government,
these
selves,
that
For
the
this
public,
This
utterance.
and
policy-makers
f'or
capacity
in
So,
leaders
theynormally
arc
themselves
just
parties
and
consist
of
observations
replies
to
opponents
They
place
function.
the
interests
wider
tories
are
be
possessing
a range
form
Sonic
sm
and
have
earlier
Impact
as
'high
and
be
well
IIiSUUI
electoral
a
hold
and
taken
major
hence
and
advan<i'
the
support
beliefs
so-called
the
in
crratiNc
undrrst.
pp.
;, -to.
so
and
of
and
in
'Iiniuistie
rcilr
utdutg.
often
Brntle\,
of
politicians
Yet
such
disparaged
'1 art\,
hv
1)octrittr
nc: ormall\tests
as
present
interests,
these
utterances
They
creative.
seek
conditions,
and
rnaphasrs
examination
ihr
state
had
historians.
and
'1'hourht'.
to
and
es1>reialh
and
offering
such
"
'language'.
audiences
structural
turn'.
vari-
diverse
in
current
for
claims
have
academic
and
chstllusionrd
within
histhe
though
Nevertheless,
of
moment
recently,
satisfy
imaginative
lass,
' ctudirs,
I>olrtic.
)f Labour,
the
to
not
by
challenges
or
have
deeper
a
- which
original,
to
obviously
a party's
more
and
but
but
antipathies,
both
or,
this
attached
most
also
and
and
upon
he
the
by
distinctive
and
significance
understandings
rrcc"ntk
languagr'
cultutr
the
lug.
tal
is
od conventional
f0r
Future.
the
particular
analýcrc,
ttual
function
may
to
party
supporters
of
fears
officials
speak
line,
party
things
tactics
constitute
claim
doctrine
go
they
to
and
far.
acquired
to become
something
These
and
rigorous
attract
as
leaders
political
to
Their
add
their
at
only
collective
party
the
that
presen-
what
and
policies,
But
speeches
values,
ideolony,
hopes
as well
issues
intellectually
not.
but
to
theory,
the
purposes
individual's
an
may
they
rivals.
and
and
been
called
ously
These
and
the
and
support
on
the
too.
issues
media
ability
are
own
bodies
other
public
work
importance
their
projected
and
their
they
particular
b\
to
to affect
power
largely
dependent
because
such
respond
their
politicians
be
often
may
causing
not
opposing
say
and
reputations
creates
and
be
to
continues
persuasive,
and
what
public
persuasion.
important
sense,
an
\\'hat
publish.
is
strategists;
affairs
national
parliamentary
or
and
of
not
will
usually
backbenchers
or
committees
leaders
from
political
of' part}number
and
who
forgotten
a tiny
`know'
only
politicians
in
only
except
constructed
by speeches
those
reason,
all
could
revealed
as
arid
from
their
he
can as easily
inner
Workings
the
else
15
problem
It
causes.
observe
hidden
through
party,
public
can
Everyone
correspondence
distinguishes
What
are
and
especially
tation.
their
were
contemporaries.
leaders
political
characters,
the historical
of
In
been
See
class
pol-
political
central
es! >.
to
16
Stanley Baldwin
define
issues in certain was. They aim to persuade their audifear
for
things
to
things
new
new
ences
want, expect, or
- or old
for
They
things
reasons, or new
old reasons.
encourage them to
beliefs
detect
friends
adopt new
and
new
or enemies - or else to
hold fast to familiar
By
these means
values, allies, and enmities.
issues, but create more
they not only shape opinions on particular
lasting political
by
identities
It
is
these
and electoral
alliances.
into
`consensus'
`centre'
that
means
a political
or
may come
existfrom
the momentum
ence - not simply
of events or structural
but
by
the constructive
change,
and collective efforts of successful
forming
politicians,
areas of agreement
and selecting
points of
difference.
Given that speeches have these persuasive and instrumental
functions,
they may or may not express aspects of' the speaker's
belief'.
how
In
judging
belief'
be
likely
far
private
private
may
a
diaries
personal correspondence
and significant
component,
and
But
can provide assistance.
private records concerned
with the
do
in
themselves necessarily or even usually
of'events
not
stream
belief',
because
by
their very
extended
evidence about
contain
belief
left
is
implicit,
nature as private statements
any
chiefly
a
Belief
likely
he
is
to
matter of' silent assumption.
more
indicated
in underlying
in
f'rarnework
themes,
the
and consistent
wider
and
texture
of* responses to particular
events, as revealed where the
is
politician
compelled to make concessions towards explicitness
in long series of'speeches and publications.
British party ideologies or doctrines have almost invariably been
investigated
`thinkers'
through examination
of'
and `writers' who
Conservatives
have
As
theoretical
tracts.
produced quasi-academic
f'eww
Conservative
`thinkers'
major
generated
and as
politicians
lesser
influence
`thinkers',
the
there
rarely acknowledge
even of'
has been widespread acceptance of their routine insistence that
Conserva`Thatcherism'
the
w"ith, perhaps,
exceptional
case of'
tism has no ideology or theory, but is unique (and they would
being
in
`instinctive',
`empirical',
`practical',
claim superior)
or
b\- many political historians
`realistic'. This has been compounded
having a depleted
is
is
`political',
conception
of' what
which
has
It
been
to
reduced
programmes,
policies, and organisation.
further aggravated by limited assumptions
in
the
about
elements
`electoral behaviour',
determinants
narrowed to the structural
of
`class' or, most recently, gender. The broader character of political
Introduction:
explored.
tions,
the
or
its
party
and
publicly
Conservative
most
that
speeches
-
and
to
extent
is hard
to
been
always
quite
unlike
in
-
and
and
however,
rc)Hfi)
pp.
-
F.
an
and
(Aldershot,
F.
11.
ere alive
in
substance
and
an
to
ability
O'(;
(; rrc"n,
Party
British
ornian.
.. hich
M.
(. oncervatire
TavIur
Consrn
includes
and
The
),
appear
(yds.
hv
recent
. %ork
and
), Party,
British
State
than
Societe.
in
that
-
is
and
from
Burke
srnsihlr
1XXo-.
lyyo
these
interests
with
Francis
its
his
concerns,
aht
M.
any
that
Together
7hou,
Electoral
of
emphasis
party
Bald%Vin.
Society
and
atire
The
character
here
from
Con, ser
alum.
passagrs
t hr
a public
doctrine.
free
political
which
Nevertheless
exist.
unusual
doctrinal,
of' this
Bald%vin's
of
the
deeper,
their
of
literature
argument
features:
two
tone
(rds.
1820
historical
admired
The
gave
i 7q-84
J. Lawrence
widely
to
l2-7,81-3,
II.
lay
anthology
.
Bar,
girlowska
more
addresses
Baldwin
Sr(,
manner.
audiences
messpolitical
interwar
politician
leading
A
who
addresses.
distinctive
a
other
politician.
elements
particular
gave
this
much
contemporary
speeches
`non-political'
no
those
obviously
does
adequate
not yet
comparison
been
Baldwin
that
plain
possessed
allow
essential
(: nn
assess,
are
`think-
those
use
which
expressed
because
by
Conservative
to
superior
doc-
party
less
much
considerable
ostensibly
which
that
within
Office
stall'-were
large
to persuade
number
he
is
the
were
makes
many
examined
Would
it has
values
expediencies
been
said
wcll
ideological
an
is itself
that
sought
and
the
has
It
generated
Central
and
large
his
re-filled
understood
themselves;
ideas
the
precise
the
always
persistently
both
stateniernts,
other
also
been
opponents.
book
therefore
various
This
age
has
must
politicians
leaders
collective
by
a
or
Conservatism
that
notion
and
histor-
`thought'
`ideas'
non-ideological
be
abstrac-
arguments,
and
Accordingly
implausible.
be
to
large
as
toothless.
and
underhas been
ideas
presented
the
filled
inherently
by
than
ers'
is
claim
party's
'; But
what
has
ideology
statement.
study.
remains
Conservative
consider
Yet
imagery
and
argument
cultures
rarely
container
moment
trine
fi)r
empty
an
the
that
party
subject
worthwhile
just
was
of'
Conservative
the
of
be
to
political
banal,
and
17
culture,
of
been
usually
specific
bland,
of
political
existence
have
problem
context
varied
as the
to
unrelated
so appearing
ies
and
these
acknowledged,
the
choice,
and electoral
from
a rich
" Insofar
activity
derived
the historical
and
cou
I.
in
Thatcher
to
n
entan,
/. wrrnigrr-
(Cardiff.
Behaviour
and
igq(i),
and
Britain
since
1997).
The
i88o-
Crisiw
1914
of
Consen"aticm.
0
Qc r ),
The
P.
't 1 2.
Politics.
Economics
and
Ideology
of
the
Bntnh
Stanley' Baldwin
18
high-political
pressures -a position with great potential strengths,
but also liable to cause difficulties.
Baldwin's speeches have not been wholly ignored by biographers
historians.
four
his
As
and
volumes of
addresses were published
his
known,
it
of
phrases
and
passages
remain
and as several
well
important.
has long been recognised that they indicate something
Yet even apart from the general undervaluation
of speeches as
historical
Baldwin
has
from
evidence,
suffered
remarkably
naive,
"
His
Novhis
selective, and uncontextualised
readings of'
words.
is just the most obvious
to rearmament
ember 1936 reference
instance. Other persistent
are those
sources of misunderstanding
Nla\English
March
the
1924
1925 on the
countryside,
and
of
on
Baldwin ironworks.
Even catch phrases
force'
`dynamic
- such as
have
First'
been
'Safety
misconstrued
or
or misattributed.
lesser, example is indicative
facing
Another,
the
ofobstacles
seridiscussion
has
been
Baldwin.
It
long
'fact',
ous
ofa social-historical
derived from his own words, that as an old Harrovian
he deterhis
Harrow
Yet
Cabinet
first
former
to
mined
pack
pupils.
with
have
been
what should
evident f-rom such an improbable
stateis
by
intelligent
ment
confirmed
any
reading of' the reprinted
by
the
the original
address containing
statement,
and proven
throughout
newspaper report punctuated
with the words `laughter' and `cheers' - that the comment was, quite simply, a joke. ')
Iv
The principal
book
is
Conservative
this
to
aim of
examine a
politiform
leadership.
It is an investical mind, and a particularof party
in terms of
gation
power considered
of political
not simply
decisions in Cabinet or party councils, but as relationships
established with various public audiences, including
the opposing paris therefore
deliberately
Tactical
ties. The approach
selective.
from
familiar
the 'high politics' accounts are noted
activities
now
but
is
the
where appropriate,
emphasis
upon a political
rhetoric
As these constituted
and the presentation
of a public personality.
Exceptions arc Schwarz. `l"hr Language of (: onstit tit ionalism". and, Jarvis Ihrsis. ch. ti:
'The I)cx trinal Politics of StanIv% Baldwin, in M. Bentlev (ed. ). 1'uhhc
also P. Williamson,
and Fri tale 1)nefnne ((: arnbrulgc". i yy,; ), pp. 18 1-2O8.
Omission of audience reactions in Baldwin's col102,;.
01" 1)- 2(37: The Times, 2o,
Juh"
Irctrd addresses has contributed
to other
misreadinvs.
Introduction:
to
attempt
a major
`national'
lation
of
doctrine.
tive
public
first
chapter
Here
elevate
-
to
as elsewhere
been
second
in
the
effect
of'
an
unusual
investigate
such
the
and
inely
Baldwin's
order
to
the
task
of
chiefly
by
its
of
effectively
public
an
illuminate
in
because
speeches,
'tone'
It
stood.
texture
the
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