Unionist Government 1895–1905

3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Arthur Balfour

Punch cartoon, 1903; The Rand mine-owners' employment of Chinese labour on the Transvaal gold mines in British controlled South Africa was controversial and contributed to the Liberal victory in the 1906 elections.

A coalition of the Conservative and Liberal Unionist parties took power in the United Kingdom following the general election of 1895. The Conservative leader, Lord Salisbury, took office as prime minister, and his nephew, Arthur Balfour, was leader of the Commons, but various major posts went to the Liberal Unionist leaders, most notably the Liberal Unionist leader in the Lords, the Duke of Devonshire, who was made Lord President, and his colleague in the Commons, Joseph Chamberlain, who became Colonial Secretary. It was this government which would conduct the Boer War from 1899 to 1902, which was exploited by the government to help win a landslide victory in the general election of 1900.

Trade Reform

Balfour succeeded Salisbury as prime minister in 1902, and the government would eventually falter after Chamberlain proposed his scheme for tariff reform, whose partial embrace by Balfour led to the resignation of the more orthodox free traders in the Cabinet.

Chinese miners in South Africa

After the conclusion of the Boer War the British government sought to rebuild South Africa's economy which had been devastated by the war. An important part of the rebuilding effort was to get the gold mines of the Witwatersrand, the richest in history and a major cause of the war, back online as soon as possible. Because the government decreed that white labour was too expensive and black labourers were reluctant to return to the mines, the Union government decided to import 63,000 contracted workers from China.

This was deeply unpopular at the time as popular opinion in much of the western world, including Britain, was hostile to Chinese immigration. It also happened at a time when poverty and unemployment amongst lower class British workers was very high. On 26 March 1904 a demonstration against Chinese immigration to South Africa was held in Hyde Park and was attended by 80,000 people.^[1]:107 The Parliamentary Committee of the Trade Union Congress then passed a resolution declaring that:

That this meeting consisting of all classes of citizens of London, emphatically protests against the action of the Government in granting permission to import into South Africa indentured Chinese labour under conditions of slavery, and calls upon them to protect this new colony from the greed of capitalists and the Empire from degradation.^[2]

Fall from power

With his majority greatly reduced and defeat in the next election seeming inevitable, Balfour resigned in December 1905, leading to the appointment of a Liberal government under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. In the general election which followed, all but three members of the Balfour cabinet were defeated in their bids for re-election, including Balfour himself.

Cabinets

Lord Salisbury's Cabinet, June 1895 – July 1902

• Lord Salisbury; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the House of Lords
• Arthur James Balfour; First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons
• Lord Halsbury; Lord Chancellor
• The Duke of Devonshire; Lord President of the Council
• Lord Cross; Lord Privy Seal
• Sir Matthew White Ridley; Secretary of State for the Home Department
• Joseph Chamberlain; Secretary of State for the Colonies
• Lord Lansdowne; Secretary of State for War
• Lord George Hamilton; Secretary of State for India
• George Joachim Goschen; First Lord of the Admiralty
• Sir Michael Hicks Beach; Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Charles Thomson Ritchie; President of the Board of Trade
• Henry Chaplin; President of the Local Government Board
• Lord James of Hereford; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• Aretas Akers-Douglas; First Commissioner of Works
• Lord Cadogan; Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
• Lord Ashbourne; Lord Chancellor of Ireland
• Lord Balfour of Burleigh; Secretary for Scotland
• Walter Hume Long; President of the Board of Agriculture

Changes

In November 1900, the cabinet was completely reorganised:

• Lord Salisbury; Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords
• Arthur James Balfour; First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons
• Lord Halsbury; Lord Chancellor
• The Duke of Devonshire; Lord President of the Council
• Charles Thomson Ritchie; Secretary of State for the Home Department
• Lord Lansdowne; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
• Joseph Chamberlain; Secretary of State for the Colonies
• William St John Brodrick; Secretary of State for War
• Lord George Hamilton; Secretary of State for India
• Lord Selborne; First Lord of the Admiralty
• Sir Michael Hicks Beach; Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Gerald William Balfour; President of the Board of Trade
• Walter Hume Long; President of the Local Government Board
• Lord James of Hereford; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• Aretas Akers-Douglas; First Commissioner of Works
• Lord Cadogan; Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
• Lord Ashbourne; Lord Chancellor of Ireland
• Lord Balfour of Burleigh; Secretary for Scotland
• Robert William Hanbury; President of the Board of Agriculture

Arthur Balfour's Cabinet, July 1902 – December 1905

• Arthur Balfour – First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons
• Lord Halsbury – Lord Chancellor
• The Duke of Devonshire – Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords
• Aretas Akers-Douglas – Secretary of State for the Home Department
• Lord Lansdowne – Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
• Joseph Chamberlain – Secretary of State for the Colonies
• St John Brodrick – Secretary of State for War
• Lord George Hamilton – Secretary of State for India
• Lord Selborne – First Lord of the Admiralty
• Charles Thomson Ritchie – Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Gerald Balfour – President of the Board of Trade
• Lord Balfour of Burleigh – Secretary for Scotland
• George Wyndham – Chief Secretary for Ireland
• Walter Hume Long – President of the Local Government Board
• Robert William Hanbury – President of the Board of Agriculture
• Lord Londonderry – President of the Board of Education
• Lord Ashbourne – Lord Chancellor of Ireland
• Lord Windsor – First Commissioner of Public Works
• Austen Chamberlain – Postmaster-General

Changes

• May 1903 – Lord Onslow succeeds R.W. Hanbury at the Board of Agriculture.
• September–October 1903 – Lord Londonderry succeeds the Duke of Devonshire as Lord President, while remaining also President of the Board of Education. Lord Lansdowne succeeds Devonshire as Leader of the House of Lords, remaining also Foreign Secretary. Lord Salisbury succeeds Balfour as Lord Privy Seal. Austen Chamberlain succeeds Ritchie at the Exchequer. Chamberlain's successor as Postmaster-General is not in the Cabinet. Alfred Lyttelton succeeds Joseph Chamberlain as Colonial Secretary. St John Brodrick succeeds Lord George Hamilton as Secretary for India. Hugh Arnold-Forster succeeds Brodrick as Secretary for War. Andrew Graham-Murray succeeds Lord Balfour of Burleigh as Secretary for Scotland.
• March 1905 – Walter Hume Long succeeds George Wyndham as Irish Secretary. Gerald Balfour succeeds Long at the Local Government Board. Lord Salisbury, remaining Lord Privy Seal, succeeds Balfour at the Board of Trade. Lord Cawdor succeeds Lord Selborne at the Admiralty. Ailwyn Fellowes succeeds Lord Onslow at the Board of Agriculture.

List of Ministers

Cabinet members are listed in bold face.

Source: C. Cook and B. Keith, British Historical Facts 1830–1900

References

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