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Portrait of Bonar Law

Prime Ministers · 20th century

Bonar Law

1858–1923 · Canadian-born British

Conservative

In office: 1922–1923

Andrew Bonar Law, born in New Brunswick, Canada, was a Glasgow iron merchant who led the Conservatives from 1911 and served as Lloyd George's Chancellor during the First World War. His speech at the Carlton Club in 1922 helped end the coalition, and he became prime minister, winning an election on a promise of "tranquillity". Throat cancer forced him to resign after 209 days, making him the shortest-serving prime minister of the 20th century.

How to spot them

  • ▸'The Unknown Prime Minister' (Asquith's jibe at his funeral)
  • ▸Born in New Brunswick, Canada; Glasgow iron merchant
  • ▸209 days in office, 1922–23; resigned with throat cancer
  • ▸Carlton Club meeting of 1922; 'tranquillity' election
  • ▸Fervent Ulster Unionist opposition to Home Rule before 1914

In office

Chancellor of the Exchequer in the wartime coalition (1916–1919)

Close partner of Lloyd George; financed the war effort

The Carlton Club speech ending the Lloyd George coalition (1922)

Persuaded Conservatives to fight the next election as an independent party

The general election fought on a manifesto of 'tranquillity' (1922)

Won a Conservative majority after the fall of the coalition

Formal establishment of the Irish Free State (1922)

Came into existence on 6 December 1922, early in his premiership

Resignation after 209 days owing to throat cancer (1923)

Succeeded by Stanley Baldwin in May 1923

Quick-fire facts

  • •Born at Rexton (Kingston), New Brunswick, the son of a Presbyterian minister; the only PM born in Canada
  • •Elected Conservative leader in 1911 as a compromise candidate
  • •Lost his two eldest sons in the First World War
  • •Died in October 1923, about five months after resigning, and was buried in Westminster Abbey
  • •Asquith remarked that it was fitting to bury 'the Unknown Prime Minister' by the side of the Unknown Soldier
  • •Robert Blake's 1955 biography is titled The Unknown Prime Minister

Drill it — 6 cards

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Sources