Andrew Bonar Law

Background

He was born in New Brunswick, Canada, on Sept. 16, 1858, the son of a Presbyterian minister. At the age of twelve he was sent to Scotland to be brought up by wealthy cousins living near Glasgow.

Education

He was educated at Glasgow High School and at the age of sixteen went into business.

Career

He entered Parliament in 1900 as a Conservative member for a Glasgow constituency, and became parliamentary secretary to the Board of Trade in 1902.

Energetically promoted by Max Aitken (Beaverbrook), Law emerged as a compromise candidate.

‘The fools have stumbled on the right man by accident, ’ commented Lloyd George. In 1911 the Earl of Balfour resigned the Conservative leadership; Law, skillfully guided by Max Aitken (later Lord Beaverbrook), who had become his close friend, profited from the deadlock between Austen Chamberlain and Walter Long to become leader of the party--the first Conservative leader who can fairly be described as of middle-class origin.

Certainly Law's sharp House of Commons style seemed an improvement on Balfour's ambiguities, and the party's morale rose.

As a result he encouraged his own extremists to pursue their attack on Irish Home Rule in the belief that this was best calculated to restore party unity.

In this he lent respectability to violent resistance to the government's Home Rule Bill. While the outbreak of war in August 1914 resolved one dilemma, it created another.

Law found himself under pressure both to maintain the party truce and to follow his backbenchers and the press in attacking the Liberals' conduct of the war.

In May 1915 he partly resolved the problem by a private agreement with Asquith to join a coalition.

Before long the ubiquitous Aitken (Beaverbrook) had involved him in collaboration with Lloyd George, and in December 1916 they presented Asquith with proposals for the reorganization of the machinery of war.

When this led to Asquith's resignation, Law had an opportunity to seize the premiership.

But he felt that he would have neither a parliamentary majority nor sufficient support in the country.

Instead he served under Lloyd George as chancellor and member of the war cabinet.

A remarkable period of co-operation ensued.

As leader of the House he played a vital role in keeping the coalition majority intact. In 1918 Law judged that the Conservatives' best interests lay in keeping the coalition in being and fighting the election under Lloyd George's leadership.

Eventually ill-health forced him to retire in March 1921.

However, by this time many Conservatives were restless, and at a meeting in October 1922 they voted to sever relations with Lloyd George.

Law played a crucial role in this simply by indicating his willingness to return as party leader.

Though obliged by poor health to withdraw after a few months, he had the satisfaction of having guided his party through a dangerous period and detached it from Lloyd George before it suffered serious damage.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Fiscal Question

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • The fiscal question

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • History of Housing Reform / Foreword by the Right Hon. A. Bonar Law

Politics

Law in fact represented a half-way stage in the evolution of the modern Conservative Party. He was prominent but by no means foremost during the Conservative opposition after 1906. Law was a formidable fighter in the bitter political struggle which ensued over Ulster and Irish home rule, at times alarming his followers by his extremism in his support of Ulster's resistance. The first Tory leader to be bourgeois and provincial, he made no attempt to play the usual role of a party leader; he had no country house, avoided entertaining, and took no pleasure in food and drink. His excellent memory and aggressive style made him a useful orator at a time when tariff reform was becoming central to the party's policy. But Law did not appear to be heading for the top until, after Balfour's enforced resignation in 1911, the Tory Party split evenly between Walter Long and Austen Chamberlain.

Personality

Law's Ulster-Scottish parentage and stern presbyterian upbringing reinforced his rather dour personality.

Connections

Friend:

Max Aitken

References

• Bonar Law (British Prime Ministers)
• Bonar Law
• The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858–1923