British statesman and prime minister (19223), born in New Brunswick, E Canada. He studied in Canada and Glasgow, was an iron merchant in Glasgow, became a Unionist MP in 1900, and in 1911 succeeded Balfour as Unionist leader. He acted as colonial secretary (1915-16), a member of the war cabinet, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1916-18), Lord Privy Seal (1919), and from 1916 Leader of the House of Commons. He retired in 1921 through ill health, but returned to serve as premier for several months in 19223.
Andrew Bonar Law|
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| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
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In office 23 October 1922 – 22 May 1923 |
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| Preceded by | David Lloyd George |
| Succeeded by | Stanley Baldwin |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
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In office December 10, 1916 – January 10, 1919 |
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| Preceded by | Reginald McKenna |
| Succeeded by | Austen Chamberlain |
| Born |
September 16, 1858 Rexton, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Died |
30 October 1923 London |
| Political party | Conservative |
Andrew Bonar Law (16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a Conservative British statesman and Prime Minister.
Early life
Of Ulster Scots and Scottish descent, Andrew Bonar Law was born in Rexton, a small village in eastern New Brunswick, Canada.
In 1860, Law's mother died in childbirth.
At the age of 12, Law left to live with his late mother's three male cousins, who were rich merchant bankers in Glasgow.
Surprisingly, in view of Law's marked academic success, the Kidstons did not wish him to continue to university, and so at the age of 16 he was employed in the offices of their bank.
Bonar Law's business career went from strength to strength, and well before he was thirty, he had acquired the reputation of a shrewd man of business, who drove others hard but himself far harder. He associated himself with the Protectionist wing of the party led by Joseph Chamberlain, (more correctly until 1912 the associated but separate Liberal Unionist Party), and after Chamberlain withdrew from politics in 1906, Law came to lead that wing of the party along with Chamberlain's son, Austen.
Conservative Leader
Arthur Balfour resigned the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1911 amid widespread dissatisfaction with his actions over the Parliament Act, which had eliminated the veto of the House of Lords. Following a deadlock between Austen Chamberlain and Walter Long Bonar Law was elected Leader as a compromise candidate. Law's closest associate was his fellow Canadian, newspaper mogul William Maxwell Aitken (later Lord Beaverbrook). Following the resignation of Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Herbert Asquith, King George V asked Bonar Law to form a government but he deferred to the new Liberal leader Lloyd George, whom he believed was better placed to be able to lead a coalition ministry.
Post War and Prime Minister
At war's end he gave up the exchequer for the less demanding sinecure office of Lord Privy Seal, but remained Leader of the Commons. He returned on 23 October 1922 to become Prime Minister when Tory backbenchers led by Stanley Baldwin forced the Conservatives to leave Lloyd George's coalition as a result of the complete failure of the Lloyd George government's policies in Turkey (the Chanak Crisis) He was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer and resigned on 22 May 1923. George V sent for Baldwin, whom Bonar Law is rumoured to have favoured over Lord Curzon, although whether this advice was communicated to the king is unknown.
Bonar Law's estate was probated at 35,736 pounds sterling.
Bonar Law is often referred to as "the unknown Prime Minister", not least because of a biography of that title by Robert Blake.
Bonar Law's Government, October 1922 - May 1923
For a full list of Ministerial office holders, see Conservative Government 1922-1924
Andrew Bonar Law - Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons Lord Cave - Lord Chancellor Lord Salisbury - Lord President of the Council and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Lord Cecil of Chelwood - Lord Privy Seal Stanley Baldwin - Chancellor of the Exchequer William Clive Bridgeman - Secretary of State for the Home Department Lord Curzon of Kedleston - Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the House of Lords The Duke of Devonshire - Secretary of State for the Colonies Lord Derby - Secretary of State for War Lord Peel - Secretary of State for India Lord Novar - Secretary for Scotland Leo Amery - First Lord of the Admiralty Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame - President of the Board of Trade Sir Robert Sanders - Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Edward Frederick Lindley Wood - President of the Board of Education Sir Montague Barlow - Minister of Labour Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen - Minister of Health
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