by Roy Jenkins
2. The Leap to Fame
1. Quoted in Middlemas and Barnes, op. cit., p. 71.
2. ibid, p. 68.
3. A. W. Baldwin, My Father: the True Story, p. 114.
4. Baldwin Papers 42 ff. 3-10.
5. Thomas Jones, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 227.
6. Hansard, vol. 160, col. 561, 16 Feb. 1923.
7. Robert Rhodes James, ed., Memoirs of a Conservative, p. 154.
8. Middlemas and Barnes, op. cit., p. 162.
9. ibid, p. 169.
3. An Unsettled Leadership
1. Thomas Jones, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 256.
2. A. W. Baldwin, op. cit., p. 122.
3. G. M. Young, Stanley Baldwin, p. 72.
4. ibid, p. 57.
5. Chamberlain Papers, 1/27/72.
6. Jones Papers, 25 Nov. 1943.
7. There was no authentic text. This is from the notes for the speech quoted in Middlemas and Barnes, op. cit., p. 229, and written at 3 Elliot Terrace (the Astor house), Plymouth Hoe.
8. The Leo Amery Diaries, p. 351.
9. Quoted in Middlemas and Barnes, op. cit., pp. 240-1.
10. Thomas Jones, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 257.
11. Quoted in Robert Rhodes James, op. cit., p. 192.
12. Thomas Jones, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 265.
13. Quoted in G. M. Young, op. cit., p. 71.
14. Letter to Hilda Chamberlain, 9 Feb. 1924.
15. Thomas Jones, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 275-6.
16. ibid, p. 301.
17. ibid, p. 303.
18. idem.
4. The Perplexity of Power
1. Letter of 10 Oct. 1928 quoted in Birkenhead, F.E., p. 545.
2. Quoted in Middlemas and Barnes, op. cit., p. 343.
3. Hansard, vol. 181, col. 840
4. G. M. Young, op. cit., p. 99.
5. ibid, p. 103.
6. Thomas Jones, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 330.
7. ibid, vol. 2, p. 19.
8. ibid, pp. 21-3.
9. ibid, p. 23.
10. ibid, pp. 28-9.
11. Thomas Jones, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 38.
12. Keith Feiling, The Life of Neville Chamberlain, p. 162.
13. Thomas Jones, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 86.
14. ibid, vol. 2, p. 88.
5. The Defeat of ‘Safety First’
1. Thomas Jones, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 143
2. ibid, p. 186.
3. Letter to Sir William Wyndham, 1716.
4. Papers of Sir John Elliot (son of Daily Express editor, R. D. Blumfeld), quoted in Middlemas and Barnes, op. cit., p. 579.
5. Hansard, vol. 231, col. 1306, 7 Nov. 1929.
6. Robert Rhodes James, op. cit., p. 357 etseq.
7. Hansard, vol. 249, col. 1426, 12 March 1930.
8. Quoted in Young, op. cit., p. 92.
6. The National Government
1. Keith Feiling, op. cit., p. 189.
2. Iain Macleod, Neville Chamberlain, p. 149.
3. Quoted in Middlemas and Barnes, op. cit., p. 621.
4. Robert Rhodes James, op cit., p. 367.
5. ibid, p. 368.
6. Templewood, Nine Troubled Years, p. 18.
7. Harold Nicolson, King George V, p. 462.
8. Robert Rhodes James, op. cit., p. 370.
9. Quoted in Middlemas and Barnes, op. cit., p. 640.
10. Herbert Samuel, Memoirs, p. 214.
11. Templewood, op. cit., p. 178.
12. Thomas Jones, A Diary with Letters, p. 155.
13. Quoted in Middlemas and Barnes, op. cit., p. 640.
14. Hansard, vol. 307, col. 856, 10 Dec. 1935.
15. Templewood, op. cit., p. 185.
16. H. Montgomery Hyde, op. cit., p. 412.
17. Idem.
18. Quoted in Middlemas and Barnes, op. cit., p. 894.
19. Quoted in H. Montgomery Hyde, op. cit., p. 412.
20. Robert Rhodes James, op.cit., p. 411.
21. ibid.
7. Abdication and Retirement
1. Thomas Jones, A Diary with Letters, p. 162.
2. Quoted in Middlemas and Barnes, op. cit., p. 978.
3. Anthony Eden, Facing the Dictators, p. 410.
4. Quoted in Frances Donaldson, Edward VIII, p. 238.
5. G. M. Young, op. cit., p. 243.
6. Idem.
7. Quoted in Middlemas and Barnes, op. cit., p. 1013.
8. Harold Nicolson, Diaries and Letters, 1930-9, p. 286.
9. Thomas Jones, A Diary with Letters, p. 297.
10. Quoted in H. Montgomery Hyde, op. cit., p. 568.
11. ibid, p. 446.
12. Hansard, vol. 317, col. 1144, 12 Nov. 1936.
13. Letter from Baldwin to J. P. L. Thomas, quoted in Montgomery Hyde, op. cit., p. 537.
14. Thomas Jones, A Diary with Letters, p. 325.
Select Bibliography
Baldwin books
(in chronological order of publication)
Stanley Baldwin, On England, Philip Allan, 1926
A. G. Whyte, Stanley Baldwin. A Biographical Character Study, Chapman and Hall, 1926
Wickham Steed, The Real Stanley Baldwin, Nisbet, 1930
Arthur Bryant, Stanley Baldwin, Hamish Hamilton, 1937
G. M. Young, Stanley Baldwin, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1952
D. C. Somervell, Stanley Baldwin. An Examination of Some Features of G. M. Young’s Biography, Faber and Faber, 1953
A. W. Baldwin, My Father: the True Story, Allen and Unwin, 1955
John Raymond (ed.), The Baldwin Age, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1960
Keith Middlemas and John Barnes, Baldwin, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1969
H. Montgomery Hyde, Baldwin: the Unexpected Prime Minister, Hart-Davis, MacGibbon, 1973
Kenneth Young, Baldwin, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1976
Autobiographies and biographies of other people
(in alphabetical order of subject)
J. Barnes and D. Nicholson (eds.), The Leo Amery Diaries, vol. 1, 1896-1929, Hutchinson, 1980
J. A. Spender and Cyril Asquith, The Life of Herbert Henry Asquith, Lord Oxford and Asquith, 2 vols., Hutchinson, 1932
Roy Jenkins, Asquith, Collins, 1964 (3rd edition, 1986)
Stephen Koss, Asquith, Allen Lane, 1976
Roy Jenkins, Mr Attlee. An Interim Biography, Heinemann, 1948
Kenneth Harris, Attlee, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1982
Trevor Burridge, Clement Attlee. A Political Biography, Jonathan Cape, 1985
Blanche E. C. Dugdale, Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, 2 vols., Hutchinson, 1936
Kenneth Young, Arthur James Balfour, Bell, 1963
Max Egremont, Balfour, Collins, 1980
A. J. P. Taylor, Beaverbrook, Hamish Hamilton, 1972
Alan Bullock, The Life and Times of Ernest Bevin, vol. 1, Trade Union Leader, Heinemann, 1960
2nd Earl of Birkenhead, F. E. The Life of F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead (revised edition). Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1960
John Campbell, F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, Jonathan Cape, 1984
R. A. Butler, The Art of the Possible. The Memoirs of Lord Butler, Hamish Hamilton, 1971
Charles Petrie, The Life and Letters of the Right Honourable Sir Austen Chamberlain, 2 vols., Cassell, 1939 and 1940
David Dutton, Austen Chamberlain: Gentleman in Politics, Ross Anderson, 1985
D. R. Thorpe, The Uncrowned Prime Ministers: Austen Chamberlain, Curzon and R. A. Butler, Darkhorse Publishing, 1980
Keith Feiling, Life of Neville Chamberlain, Macmillan, 1946
Iain Macleod; Neville Chamberlain, Frederick Muller, 1961
David Dilks, Neville Chamberlain, vol. 1, 1869-1929, Cambridge University Press, 1984
Robert Rhodes James (ed.), Chips. The Diaries of Sir Henry Channon, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1967
Robert Rhodes James, Churchill: a Study in Failure, 1900-1939, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970
Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, vol. V, 1922-1939, Heinemann, 1976
Duff Cooper, Old Men Forget, Hart-Davis, 1953
John Charmley, Duff Cooper: the Authorized Biography, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986
Harold Nicolson, Curzon: the Last Phase, Constable, 19
Leonard Mosley, Curzon: the End of an Epoch, Longman, 1960
Kenneth Rose, Superior Person (Curzon, 1859-98), Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1969
Robert Rhodes James (ed.), Memoirs of a Conservative: J. C. C. Davidson’s Memoirs and Papers, 1910-3 7, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1969
Randolph S. Churchill, Lord Derby: King of Lancashire, Heinemann, 1959
Anthony Eden, Facing the Dictators, Cassell, 1962
David Carlton, Anthony Eden: a Biography, Allen Lane, 1981
Robert Rhodes James, Anthony Eden, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986
Frances Donaldson, Edward VIII, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974
HRH the Duke of Windsor, A King’s Story, Cassell, 1951
Duchess of Windsor, The Heart Has Its Reasons, Michael Joseph, 1956
Harold Nicolson, King George V: His Life and Reign, Constable, 1952
Kenneth Rose, King George V, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1983
John Wheeler-Bennett, King George VI: His Life and Reign, Macmillan, 1958
Keith Robbins, Sir Edward Grey: a Biography of Lord Grey of Falloden, Cassell, 1971
Earl of Halifax, Fullness of Days, Collins, 1957
2nd Earl of Birkenhead, Halifax, Hamish Hamilton, 1965
Samuel Hoare (Lord Templewood), The Unbroken Thread, Collins, 1949
Samuel Hoare (Lord Templewood), Nine Troubled Years, Collins, 1954
Thomas Jones, A Diary with Letters, 1931-50, Oxford University Press, 1954
Thomas Jones, Whitehall Diary, vol. 1, 1916-25; vol. II, 1926-30, Oxford University Press, 1969 and 1971
Robert Blake, The Unknown Prime Minister: the Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1955
Frank Owen, Tempestuous Journey: Lloyd George, His Life and Times, Hutchinson, 1954
John Grigg, Lloyd George, vol. I, The Young Lloyd George’, vol. II, The People’s Champion; vol. III, From Peace to War, 1912-16, Methuen, 1973, 1978 and 1985
John Campbell, Lloyd George: the Goat in the Wilderness, 1922-31, Jonathan Cape, 1977
David Marquand, Ramsay MacDonald, Jonathan Cape, 1977
Stephen McKenna, Reginald McKenna, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1948
Harold Nicolson, Diaries and Letters, 1930-9, Collins, 1966
Charles Stuart (ed.), The Reith Diaries, Collins, 1975
Viscount Samuel, Memoirs, Cresset Press, 1945
Gregory Blaxland, J. H. Thomas. A Life for Unity, Muller, 1964
Lord Vansittart, The Mist Procession, Hutchinson, 1958
Norman and Jeanne Mackenzie (eds.), The Diary of Beatrice Webb, vol. III, 1905-24 and vol. IV, 1924-43, Virago, 1984 and 1985
A. J. P. Taylor, English History, 1914-1945, Oxford University Press, 1965
R. Page Arnot, The Miners: Years of Struggle, Allen and Unwin, 1953
1 For a second or third premiership to begin, there must be a return to office after a break. The life of an administration does not cease with a general election, and a premiership does not necessarily start with a new parliament.
2 Annual dinner of the Society at the Hotel Cecil, 6 May, 1924. Reprinted in On England by Stanley Baldwin, first published in 1926, with seven subsequent impressions between then and 1937 when it appeared as an early Penguin.
3 Baldwin was always fond of railways, travelled by them whenever he could, was an amateur of their timetables, and enjoyed his directorship of the GWR. He was also good at getting around London by bus or tube. But he could never drive a motor car (he liked to claim that the internal combustion engine was responsible for more human misery than any other invention) and he never entered an aeroplane. In being unable to drive he was no different from at least three of his successors, but he was the last Prime Minister who never flew.
4 This pattern of disloyalty has been curiously prevalent amongst Harrow’s notably distinguished quartet of Prime Ministers of the past 150 years. Peel, Palmerston, Baldwin and Churchill were Harrovians. Churchill joined Baldwin in sending his own son to Eton. Peel deserted Harrow for Eton for his two youngest sons. Palmerston, who had no son, neither sustained nor contradicted the pattern.
5 The story is at least ben trovato in having Baldwin as Prime Minister travelling by train alone, which Asquith and Gladstone had done before him, but which no post-war occupant of the office, except perhaps for Attlee, would have thought of doing.
1 The only other future Prime Minister who was discussed for the Speakership was Campbell-Bannerman (in 1895), three years before he most unexpectedly became leader of the Liberal Party.
2 This was one of the most crucial parliamentary occasions in Lloyd George’s career. It is remarkable that he should have started the day by going out to a leisurely breakfast party.
3 Davidson’s secretary, who later worked for Baldwin in 10 Downing Street, and was still there, promoted to preparing answers to parliamentary questions under Neville Chamberlain but demoted to dealing with ‘the post’ under Churchill (J. Colville, The Fringes of Power, page 124).
4 At first (being a little hard of hearing) Robinson apparently assumed that he was being asked for more money, beyond the £30,000 he was thought to have paid, and compliantly drew out his cheque book. (John Campbell, F. E. Smith, pages 599-600.)
5 The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres between the Allies and Turkey demilitarized the Dardanelles and gave a zone around Smyrna to the Greeks. In August 1922 the resurgent Turkish nationalists of Kemal Ataturk threw the Greeks into the sea, reoccupied Smyrna and advanced north to Chanak, where they threatened the Straits and menacingly confronted a small British force which represented the Allies. The British Government was willing to negotiate a frontier rectification in favour of the Turks, but not to yield to force—a reasonable enough position. However, the Prime Minister (who was inclined to identify the Greeks with the Welsh), Churchill and Birkenhead, supported by Austen Chamberlain and Robert Horne, were held by most of the rest of the Cabinet, by Bonar Law from outside, and by the weight of Tory backbench opinion to have behaved with unnecessary and irresponsible bellicosity. The split with almost uncanny precision thus ran along the line which was to divide the Coalitionists from the anti-Coalitionists as sharply as the British were divided from the Turks at Chanak. Curzon sat on the barbed wire on both issues, although he was later to achieve a great diplomatic triumph at Lausanne, where he unexpectedly secured a freely negotiated agreement with the Turks. This Conference of Lausanne, which lasted from November 1922 to February 1923, was notable not only for securing the demilitarization of the Straits but also for providing the circumstances out of which Harold Nicolson wrote his supremely funny essay Arketall.
6 In fact he did nothing of the sort, for he found ‘poor dear old Austen’ firmly on the wrong side.
7 Abbreviation for ‘the Goat’, as Lloyd George was unflatteringly referred to by some of his less friendly colleagues.
8 The Coalition had joint Chief Whips as did the Churchill Coalition twenty years later. Wilson (1876-1955), MP for Reading (1913-22) and Portsmouth South (1922-3), then Governor of Bombay (1923-8), was Conservative Whip; F. E. Guest (see page 48 supra), 1875-1937, third son of the 1st Lord Wimborne and first cousin of Churchill, was Liberal Whip.
9 Henry Wickham Steed (1871-1956). His brief editorship (1919-22) was an interval between the two spans of Geoffrey Robinson (later Dawson, q. v.).
10 Ernest Pretyman (1860-1931), MP for Woodbridge (1895-1906) and Chelmsford (1908-23).
