1921 - 1922

Austen Chamberlain (1863-1937) was the son of Joseph Chamberlain, the powerful Conservative and Unionist Leader. He entered Parliament in 1892, but remained under the shadow of his father. Even when the latter resigned from Balfour's cabinet in 1904 because of the prime minister's failure wholeheartedly to back his tariff reform proposals, and Austen was promoted to chancellor of the exchequer, he saw himself as committed to his father's political programme. After his father's illness in 1906 he was seen as a potential Leader of the Conservative party, but his accession was prevented by the party's internal disputes, and Bonar Law emerged as a compromise candidate. Chamberlain became a central figure in the wartime coalition, and following Bonar Law's ill-health retirement in 1921, he became Leader of his party, and of the House of Commons. Though his appointment was a popular choice in the party, he was unable to overcome increasing resentment on the back benches about Lloyd George's continued Leadership of the coalition; the parliamentary party insisted on withdrawal from it in 1922, Chamberlain resigned his Leadership of the Party, and the coalition collapsed. Chamberlain took office again under Baldwin in 1924, as foreign Secretary.