A Century of Premiers

A Century of Premiers

Also by Dick Leonard THE BACKBENCHER AND PARLIAMENT (ed. with Val Herman) CROSLAND AND NEW LABOUR (ed.) THE ECONOMIST GUIDE TO THE EUROPEAN UNION ELECTIONS IN BRITAIN: A Voter s Guide (with Roger Mortimore) GUIDE TO THE GENERAL ELECTION PAYING FOR PARTY POLITICS THE PRO-EUROPEAN READER (ed. with Mark Leonard) THE SOCIALIST AGENDA: Crosland s Legacy (ed. with David Lipsey) WORLD ATLAS OF ELECTIONS (with Richard Natkiel)

A Century of Premiers Salisbury to Blair Dick Leonard

Dick Leonard 2005 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2005 978-0-333-91839-5 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-4039-3990-6 ISBN 978-0-230-51150-7 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230511507 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Leonard, R. L. (Richard Lawrence) A century of premiers : Salisbury to Blair / Dick Leonard p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Prime ministers Great Britain Biography. 2. Great Britain Politics and government 20th century Biography. I. Title. DA28.4.L46 2004 941.082 092 2 dc22 [B] 2004056070 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05

To Irène, Mark and Miriam for their unstinted love and support, and to John for his critical encouragement

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Contents Introduction 1 1 Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquis of Salisbury The Man who Stayed too Long 8 2 Arthur James Balfour Bob s your Uncle 23 3 Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman A Good, Honest Scotchman 37 4 Herbert Henry Asquith Not Quite in the Gladstone Mould 53 5 David Lloyd George A Dynamic Force 72 6 Andrew Bonar Law Tory Puritan 94 7 Stanley Baldwin A Man of the Most Utter Insignificance? 107 8 James Ramsay MacDonald An Aristocrat among Plain Men? 125 9 Neville Chamberlain A Family Affair 144 10 Winston Churchill His Finest Hour 161 11 Clement Attlee Quiet Revolutionary 176 12 Sir Anthony Eden Self-Destruction of a Prince Charming 193 13 Harold Macmillan Idealist into Manipulator 209 14 Sir Alec Douglas-Home Right Man, Wrong Century? 227 15 Harold Wilson Master or Victim of the Short Term 241 16 Edward Heath Cheerleader for Europe 263 17 James Callaghan Labour s conservative 282 18 Margaret Thatcher Grocer s Daughter to Iron Lady 300

viii Contents 19 John Major Thatcherism with a Human Face 322 20 Tony Blair Governing against his Party 342 Appendix: Prime Ministers of the Twentieth Century 368 Index 371