Conservative Government 1924-9

Baldwin's return to government

Baldwin had managed to survive the disaster of 1923 with surprising ease. This was partly because he did not see any reason to resign, partly because of Conservative fears of renewed divisions at a time of a 'socialist' government in office, and partly because his demise might bring back the spectre of Coalitionism. Those who had supported him seemed justified by the sweeping victory of the party in 1924.

In forming his cabinet, Baldwin was keen to bring back the Coalitionists, and to balance the government been right and left, protectionists and free traders. Accordingly, anti-Coalitionists like Curzon (Lord President) and Neville  Chamberlain (Minister of Health) returned to important posts. But most of the former Coalitionists also came back. Austen Chamberlain was appointed Foreign Secretary; Lord Birkenhead became Secretary of State of India; and, in the most surprising move of all, Churchill, until recently a Liberal and still a free trader, was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Baldwin's main political aims were to preserve:

• Parliamentary democracy
• Capitalism

The best vehicle to achieve these ends was, he believed, a united Conservative party seeking to represent all anti-socialist opinion. He felt that, in the past, the Conservatives' problem, had too often been a tendency to alienate potential supporters but their partisan approach to issues like trade unionism, religion and trade policy.

Moderate Conservative policies

Accordingly, he set out to provide a new type of non-partisan approach - conservatism rather than Conservatism. If he emerged as the appeaser of the reasonable demands of the unions, a broad Christian rather than a narrow supporter of the Anglican Church in religious matters, pragmatic on trade rather than an ardent protectionist, and a pacifier abroad, then he would achieve this end, particularly if his government also passed 'useful' social reforms. In this aim he was also helped immeasurably by the departure of Ireland from the front rank of political issues following the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922.

In all these respects the first year or so of his second government proved a remarkable success. A back-bench attempt to introduce anti-union legislation was thwarted when Baldwin, in one of his most famous speeches, called for 'peace in our time'. In his speeches generally - a selection of which published in 1926 in the book On England - he developed the themes of a broadly Christian, rather than narrowly Anglican, government, thus appealing the former Liberal voters, particularly Protestant Nonconformists such as the Methodists. The McKenna Duties were reintroduced in 1925, and a Safeguarding of Industry Act was also passed to prevent foreign dumping of excessively cheap goods on the British market; but a more to full-scale protection was ruled put by the renewal of Law's Pledge and the presence of the free trader, Churchill, at the Treasury. The Locarno Pact seemed to mark an end to international tensions. And Neville Chamberlain got busy on passing the 25 pieces of social legislation that he had planned on entering office; in the…