| Code | DS/UK/1736 |
| Name | Balfour; Lord; Arthur James (25 July 1848-19 March 1930); 1st Earl of Balfour, KG OM PC FRS, FBA DL; British Conservative Prime Minister |
| Dates | 25 July 1848-19 March 1930 |
| Gender | Male (cisgender) |
| Place of Birth/Origin | Whittingehame House, East Lothian, Scotland (born) |
| Relationships | Son of James Maitland Balfour (Scottish MP) and Lady Blanche Gascoyne-Cecil
Possible former partner of May Lyttelton (cousin), Margot Tennant (later Asquith) and Mary Charteris (nee Wyndham, Lady Elcho) |
| Biography | Arthur James Balfour was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905.
Entering Parliament in 1874, Balfour achieved prominence as Chief Secretary for Ireland, in which position he suppressed agrarian unrest whilst taking measures against absentee landlords. He opposed Irish Home Rule, saying there could be no half-way house between Ireland remaining within the United Kingdom or becoming independent. From 1891 he led the Conservative Party in the House of Commons, serving under his uncle, Lord Salisbury, whose government won large majorities in 1895 and 1900.
In 1902, he succeeded his uncle as prime minister. In domestic policy he passed the Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903, which bought out most of the Anglo-Irish land owners. The Education Act 1902 had a major long-term impact in modernising the school system in England and Wales. In foreign and defence policy, he oversaw reform of British defence policy.
He resigned as prime minister in 1905 and the following month the Conservatives suffered a landslide defeat at the 1906 election, in which he lost his own seat. He soon re-entered Parliament and continued to serve as Leader of the Opposition throughout the crisis over Lloyd George's 1909 budget, the narrow loss of two further General Elections in 1910, and the passage of the Parliament Act 1911. He resigned as party leader in 1911. |