Baldwin

by Roy Jenkins

This is the first biography of Stanley Baldwin for more than 10 years, although there had been four in the preceding decade. This is strange, for Baldwin has recently begun to swim back into fashion. In part this is a function of growing nostalgia for his period of power, the 1920s and 1930s. Still more, however, it is because Mrs Thatcher's brand of Conservative leadership has made him an object of contrasting interest in a way that Harold Macmillan's or Edward Heath's never did. When a new exponent of an alternative style temporarily achieves notice, it is now frequently suggested that he might be a new Baldwin. This reappraisal is therefore appropriately timed. It is written by a skilled political biographer, from a non-Conservative, although not personally unsympathetic, standpoint.

Baldwin was born in 1867, the son of a rich Worcestershire ironmaster, and educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge. He then worked in the family business for 20 years. Although the most self-conscious countryman amongst British Prime Ministers of the past 100 years or more, he was not a country squire and never owned more than a few acres of land. He did not enter the House of Commons until he was 40, and was not even a junior minister until the threshold of 50. Less than six years later, in 1923, he became prime minister and dominated British politics for the next 15 years - the only man of this century to hold the highest office three times.

Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, Roy Jenkins (1920- 2003) served in several major posts in Harold Wilson's first government and as home secretary from 1965-1967. In 1987, Jenkins was elected to succeed Harold Macmillan as chancellor of the University of Oxford, following the latter's death, a position he held until his death. Jenkins grew to political maturity during the twilight of a great age of British parliamentary democracy. As much as Churchill, though in quite a different way, Jenkins has been from the cradle a creature of the system that nurtured Palmerston and Disraeli, Gladstone, Asquith, and Lloyd George.

Genres: Biography, Politics, History

204 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 1987

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM PC was a Welsh politician. Once prominent as a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) and government minister in the 1960s and 1970s, he became the first (and so far only) British President of the European Commission (1977-81) and one of the four principal founders of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981. He was also a distinguished writer, especially of biographies.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

In many ways Stanley Baldwin was the last of an now-outmoded type of prime minister, the kind who aspired to "masterly inactivity" as the highest goal of his or her tenure. In that sense he might be regarded as the last truly conservative prime minister in the sense of simply seeking to maintain the status quo, without attempting dramatic policy formulations or international initiatives. Roy Jenkins's book highlights this aspect of Baldwin's premierships by emphasizing his efforts to maintain stability by setting a placid tone. Yet as Jenkins shows, Baldwin's calm exterior disguised a nervous and easily-strained personality, one that he only with considerable effort.

As a former cabinet minister himself, Jenkins brings to his study of Baldwin the perspective of someone who served in high office. His writing style is informative and often entertaining, which is no mean feat considering his subject. But this book lacks the detail of Keith Middlemas and John Barnes's Baldwin: A Biography and the insights of Philip Williamson's Stanley Baldwin: Conservative Leadership and National Values, both of which offer a far better understanding of how Baldwin came to dominate politics in inter-war Britain. While Jenkins's book is effective as an introduction to Baldwin's life and career, anyone seeking an in-depth examination would make better use of their time turning to one of those other works instead.

[Richard Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable shortish biography of a key figure in interwar British politics. Jenkins is broadly sympathetic to Baldwin's moderate and easy going approach to politics and writes well of his skills and his ability as a conciliator in a time when extremes in political conflict were growing. He is especially good on Baldwin's management of the pretensions of the ugly sisters in the form of Beaverbrook and Rothermere - seekers of the harlot's prerogative. It's a pity present day politicians lack Baldwin's courage in standing up to the successors of these gentry.

Baldwin was traduced by a disgracefully ungrateful Churchill for what the latter considered to be his supineness in the face of the threat of German re-armament. Add in Churchill's espousal of such lost causes such as his opposition to Indian self government and Churchill's support for Edward VIII and his spite towards Baldwin can be explained if not justified.

[JerryNotts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Succinct outline of Baldwin's life and career, can be read in a few hours to gain an insight into his thoughts and ambitions. Somewhat light on his earlier life outside politics.

[David C Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of Jenkins’ very smoothly written biographies of political figures, mostly English with a few Americans. Baldwin had a long career in the 20s and 30s but it was an odd one since his main goal seemed to be to have a good vacation; in fact his refusal to cut short his vac in 1931 caused all kinds of political problems for the 30s as a national government was created in his absence. Baldwin can be given credit for his bipartisanship but his temporising on Hitler - he was a lazy appeaser where Chamberlain was messianic - blighted his retirement.
Possibly to pad out a fairly insubstantial narrative, Jenkins’ biographical notes are delightful as he exercises his talent for waspish summation. The diplomat Robert Vansittart wrote 24 books “giving most of them unfortunate titles.”

[Charles Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a lengthy biography, but as it happens, just the length I was looking for to fill in the gaps in my knowledge of this successful, but now largely forgotten, prime minister.

Roy Jenkins is as perceptive as always, and writes very well, although I could have done with fewer Latin and French phrases.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly well researched and vividly written account of the life of one of Britain's most significant, but now largely forgetten, political leaders. Entering the House of Commons in 1908 as MP for Bewdley, Stanley Baldwin was, for much of his early political career, a relatively unknown Conservative backbencher. All that changed, however, in 1922 when the Liberal-Conservative coalition under David Lloyd George collapsed amid a cash-for-honours scandal and Baldwin became Chancellor and later Prime Minister in the strongest Conservative-only government since that of Lord Salisbury at the turn of the century. Jenkins details the many highly consequential events that occurred during Baldwin's premiership, including the 1926 General Strike, the 1929 Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression that followed, the 1936 Abdication of King Edward VIII and the rise of fascism in Germany, Italy and Spain. Shown by Jenkins to have guided the country through these many crises with often, but not always, astute leadership, Baldwin is painted as an adept, but sometimes fallable, leader, who presided over some of the most tumultuous events of the inter-war period. "Baldwin" is an excellent biography and well worth reading for those interested in the history of Britain in the early twentieth century.

[Stephen Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, Jenkins applies his political nous and experience to an appraisal of a great British politician. Whilst not overtly critical of Baldwin, Jenkins depicts him as a less than hard working procrastinator barely coming to terms with the unfolding events of his day. The book is a brief essay rather than a full-blown biography but its quality is clear, its brevity disappointing. If you're interested in this era and its politics, a must read.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid biography of Britain’s sleepiest twentieth century prime minister. Sometimes Baldwin seems like pure product of British nostalgia. When you read his speeches you can believe that London exists or Britain even has an empire. It’s all rural values and good honest, uniquely English, working men.

[Teddy Dodger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit short for me, limited in treatment of Baldwin's foreign policy.