Stanley Baldwin
Conservative Leadership and National Values

A reinterpretation of the career of Stanley Baldwin (1867–1947), Conservative leader and three times prime minister.

Philip Williamson (Author)

9780521438124, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 31 May 2007

408 pages, 15 b/w illus. 4 tables
23.3 x 15.6 x 2.2 cm, 0.568 kg

'Philip Williamson['s] … meticulously researched and thoughtful work … contains many insights and fascinating revelations.' Ben Pimlott, The Guardian

Stanley Baldwin (1867–1947) is one of the most significant modern British politicians, but also one of the most controversial and puzzling. As Conservative leader and three times prime minister, Baldwin presided over the beginning of his party's long twentieth-century dominance. He did so in new and difficult conditions: the onset of modern democratic politics, the rise of Labour, chronic economic depression, the General Strike, persistent newspaper attacks, imperial discontent, the Abdication, and the threats from Mussolini and Hitler. This book provides an understanding of Baldwin's career, including a serious analysis of the moral and intellectual influences of his early life. Its main concerns are the investigation of a Conservative mind, and its communication with the various audiences that constituted the political nation. This is not a conventional biography, but rather an examination of the nature of political leadership, Conservative politics and 'national values'.

Introduction: the historical problem
1. Public career
2. Political leadership
3. Influences: business and ethics
4. Influences: community and service
5. Purposes and methods
6. Capitalism and industrial relations
7. Democracy and public values
8. Country and empire
9. Soul and providence
10. Armaments and anti-totalitarianism
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], British & Irish history [HBJD1]