- The information in this article is part of an upcoming rework, and may not be reflected in other articles.
The Conservative Government of the United Kingdom, informally known as the Law Ministry was formed on the 14th December 1919 and dissolved on the 6th February 1923. The ministry was formed following the dissolution of the Balfour Interim Ministry, which itself was a continuation of the Lloyd George War Ministry. The Conservative government embarked on a program of austerity and demobilisation at home while intensifying the conflict in Ireland and closer relations with the Dominions.
Law's government was beset from crisis for much of its time in office, overseeing a period of unprecedented strike action; the ongoing war in Ireland and an economic recession popularly known as the Great Slump. It would later lend its name to the wider time period predating the British Revolution. Seeking to improve Britain's economic fortunes in the face of an insurgent Germany and its newly established economic bloc of Mitteleuropa, Law's government implemented the beginnings protectionist tariffs and sought to establish preferential agreements with the Dominions via the Empire Marketing Board though these bore little effect and contemporary British academics have complained that they harmed the British economy in the long-run. Likewise, the Law Ministry oversaw the implementation of austerity measures instituting higher taxes, cuts to public services and wages and the privatisation of those industries that had been nationalised during the Great War. This kicked off a range of strikes that would blight the administration and ultimately cause its downfall.
Following a defeat in the 1922 Miners' Strike, Law and his cabinet learned that further strikes were planned in an attempt to gain higher wages after a slew of pay cuts. The government attempted to politicise the issue and defeat the miners by forcing a general election on the matter of "ending strife" after a particularly brutal winter, mired in public discontent. Law called a snap election for 1923 though the government only maintained a plurality and lost its majority. The Liberals and Labour Party voted down joined together to vote down the King's Speech forcing Law to seek resignation creating the fallout of the Curzon Crisis. By the next month, Ramsay MacDonald announced he was prepared to form a Labour government with Liberal backing and as such, the King sent for him. Law dissolved his cabinet and resigned as Prime Minister on the 6th of February, 1923.
Cabinet[]
14th December 1919 - 4th January 1923[]
- Bonar Law – Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
- The Earl of Birkenhead – Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
- Arthur Balfour – Lord President of the Council
- The Marquess of Salisbury - Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
- The Lord Robert Cecil - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- Austen Chamberlain - Chancellor of the Exchequer
- The Earl Curzon of Kedleston – Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the House of Lords
- The Viscount Cave – Secretary of State for the Home Department
- The Viscount Milner – Secretary of State for the Colonies
- The Earl Peel – Secretary of State for India
- Lord Clyde - Secretary of State for Scotland
- The Earl Winterton - Chief Secretary for Ireland
- The Viscount French - Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
- Arthur Steel-Maitland - President of the Board of Trade
- The Lord Downham – President of the Board of Education
- The Viscount Lee of Fareham – President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
- Auckland Geddes – President of the Local Government Board
- Robert Horne – Minister of Labour
- Eric Geddes - Minister of Transport
- Walter Long – First Lord of the Admiralty
- The Earl of Derby – Secretary of State for War
Changes[]
- March 1920 - Edward Wood succeeds Lord Downham as President of the Board of Education, Viscount Astor succeeds Auckland Geddes as President of the Local Government Board.
- April 1920 - Sir John Gilmour succeeds James Clyde as Secretary for Scotland.
- February 1921 - Lord Lee of Fareham (Viscount Lee of Fareham from 9 December 1922) succeeds Walter Long as First Lord of the Admiralty, Arthur Griffith-Bowcasen succeeds Lord Lee of Fareham as President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries.
- April 1921 - Sir John French resigns as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and is succeeded by Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent, Stanley Baldwin succeeds Arthur Steel-Maitland as President of the Board of Trade.
List of Ministers[]
| Office | Name | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons |
Bonar Law | 14 December 1919 |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | Austen Chamberlain | 14 December 1919 |
| Financial Secretary to the Treasury | Stanley Baldwin | 15 December 1919 - 20 June 1921 |
| John Hills | 20 June 1921 | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury | The Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent | 15 December 1919 - 1 April 1921 |
| Leslie Wilson | 1 April 1921 | |
| Junior Lords of the Treasury | Sir John Gilmour | 15 December 1919 - 1 April 1920 |
| Douglas King | 15 December 1919 | |
| Albert Buckley | 15 December 1919 | |
| George Hennessy | 15 December 1919 | |
| William Cope | 1 April 1920 | |
| Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain | Lord Birkenhead | 14 December 1919 |
| Lord President of the Council | Arthur Balfour | 14 December 1919 |
| Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal | The Marquess of Sailsbury | 14 December 1919 |
| Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Leader of the House of Lords |
The Earl Curzon | 14 December 1919 |
| Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | Ronald McNeill | 15 December 1919 |
| Secretary of State for the Home Department | The Viscount Cave | 14 December 1919 |
| Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department | John Baird | 15 December 1919 - 1 November 1920 |
| William Joynson-Hicks | 1 November 1920 | |
| First Lord of the Admiralty | Walter Long | 14 December 1919 - 13 February 1921 |
| The Viscount Lee | 13 February 1921 | |
| Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty | James Craig | 15 December 1919 - 7 June 1921 |
| Leo Amery | 7 June 1921 | |
| Civil Lord of the Admiralty | The Earl of Onslow | 16 December 1919 - 5 April 1921 |
| Bolton Eyres-Monsell | 5 April 1921 | |
| President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries | The Viscount Lee | 14 December 1919 - 13 February 1921 |
| Arthur Griffith-Boscawen | 13 February 1921 | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries | Arthur Griffith-Boscawen | 14 December 1919 - 13 February 1921 |
| The Earl of Onslow | 5 April 1921 - 31 December 1921 | |
| The Earl of Ancaster | 31 December 1921 | |
| Secretary of State for Air | Samuel Hoare | 14 December 1919 |
| Under-Secretary of State for Air | The Marquess of Londonderry | 15 December 1919 |
| Secretary of State for the Colonies | The Viscount Milner | 14 December 1919 |
| Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies | Leo Amery | 15 December 1919 - 7 June 1921 |
| William Ormsby-Gore | 7 June 1921 | |
| President of the Board of Education | Lord Downham | 14 December 1919 - 1 March 1920 |
| Edward Wood | 1 March 1920 | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education | Edward Wood | 15 December 1919 - 1 March 1920 |
| Eustace Percy | 1 March 1920 | |
| Minister of Food Control | Lord Bathurst | 16 December 1919 - 31 December 1921 |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food Control | William Mitchell-Thompson | 16 December 1919 - 31 December 1921 |
| President of the Local Government Board | Auckland Geddes | 14 December 1919 - 1 March 1920 |
| The Viscount Astor | 1 March 1920 | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board | The Viscount Astor | 15 December 1919 - 1 March 1920 |
| Neville Chamberlain | 1 March 1920 - 31 December 1921 | |
| The Earl of Onslow | 31 December 1921 | |
| Secretary of State for India | The Earl Peel | 14 December 1919 |
| Under-Secretary of State for India | The Earl of Lytton | 14 December 1919 - 20 March 1922 |
| The Earl Winterton | 20 March 1922 | |
| Lord Lieutenant of Ireland | The Viscount French | 14 December 1919 - 1 April 1921 |
| The Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent | 27 April 1921 - 10 November 1921 | |
| Chief Secretary for Ireland | The Earl Winterton | 14 December 1919 - 10 November 1921 |
| Minister of Labour | Robert Horne | 15 December 1919 |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour | Anderson Montague-Barlow | 16 December 1919 |
| Minister of Munitions | Lord Inverforth | 15 December 1919 - 31 December 1921 |
| Parliamentary & Financial Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions | James Hope | 16 December 1919 - 31 December 1921 |
| Paymaster General | Lord Newton | 15 December 1919 - 31 December 1921 |
| Neville Chamberlain | 31 December 1921 | |
| Minister of Pensions | Laming Worthington-Evans | 15 December 1919 |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions | George Tryon | 16 December 1919 |
| Postmaster General | Herbert Pease | 15 December 1919 |
| Assistant Postmaster General | Charles Craig | 15 December 1919 |
| Secretary for Scotland | Lord Clyde | 14 December 1919 - 1 April 1920 |
| Sir John Gilmour | 1 April 1920 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Local Government Board for Scotland | James Kidd | 15 December 1919 |
| Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | Lord Robert Cecil | 14 December 1919 |
| Minister of Shipping | 14 December 1919 - 31 December 1921 | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Shipping | Leslie Wilson | 15 December 1919 - 1 April 1921 |
| Vacant | ||
| Minister of Supply | Henry Betterton | 15 December 1919 - 1 April 1921 |
| President of the Board of Trade | Arthur Steel-Maitland | 14 December 1919 - 20 June 1921 |
| Stanley Baldwin | 20 June 1921 | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade | William Bridgeman | 15 December 1919 - 22 August 1920 |
| Philip Lloyd Greame | 22 August 1920 - 1 March 1921 | |
| William Mitchell-Thompson | 1 March 1921 | |
| Secretary for Overseas Trade | William Joynson-Hicks | 15 December 1919 - 1 March 1921 |
| Philip Lloyd Greame | 1 March 1921 | |
| Secretary for Mines | William Bridgeman | 22 August 1920 |
| Minister for Transport | Eric Geddes | 15 December 1919 - 1 November 1921 |
| John Baird | 1 November 1921 | |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport | Wilfred Ashley | 16 December 1919 |
| Secretary of State for War | The Earl of Derby | 14 December 1919 |
| Under-Secretary of State for War | Sir Robert Sanders | 15 December 1919 |
| Financial Secretary to the War Office | George Stanley | 15 December 1919 |
| First Commissioner of Works | The Earl of Crawford | 15 December 1919 |
| Attorney General | Ernest Pollock | 15 December 1919 |
| Solicitor General | Leslie Scott | 15 December 1919 |
| Lord Advocate | Lord Murray | 15 December 1919 |
| Solicitor General for Scotland | William Watson | 15 December 1919 |
| Lord Chancellor for Ireland | The Lord Glenavy | 14 December 1919 - 20 February 1920 |
| Attorney General for Ireland | Denis Henry | 15 December 1919 - 20 February 1920 |
| Solicitor General for Ireland | Daniel Wilson | 15 December 1919 - 20 February 1920 |
| Lord Steward of the Household | The Earl Farquhar | 20 January 1920 |
| Lord Chamberlain of the Household | The Duke of Atholl | 20 January 1920 |
| Vice-Chamberlain of the Household | The Earl of Cromer | 20 January 1920 |
| Treasurer of the Household | Bolton Eyres-Monsell | 8 January 1920 - 5 April 1921 |
| The Lord Wraxall | 5 April 1921 | |
| Comptroller of the Household | Sir Harry Barnston | 31 December 1919 |
| Assistant Whips | Richard Foulis Roundell | 20 January 1920 |
| Philip Colfox | 20 January 1920 | |
| Master of the Horse | The Marquess of Bath | 20 January 1920 |
| Captain of the Gentlemen at Arms | The Earl of Clarendon | 20 January 1920 |
| Captain of the Yeoman Guard | The Lord Hylton | 20 January 1920 |
| Lords in Waiting | The Viscount Valentia | 20 January 1920 |
| The Lord Somerleyton | 20 January 1920 | |
| The Earl of Bradford | 20 January 1920 | |
| The Earl of Jersey | 20 January 1920 | |