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| Period in Office: | 11 July, 1902 - 5 December, 1905 |
| PM Predecessor: | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| PM Successor: | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman |
| Date of Birth: | 25 July 1848 |
| Place of Birth: | Whittingehame , Haddingtonshire |
| Political Party: | Conservative |
| Retirement honour: | Earldom of Balfour |
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour ( 25 July, 1848 - March 19, 1930) was a British statesman and Prime Minister of the United KingdomIn the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is the head of government, exercising many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. According to custom, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet (which he or she heads) are re.
The eldest son of James Maitland Balfour of Whittingehame , Haddingtonshire, and of Lady Blanche Gascoyne Cecil , he was educated at EtonEton can refer to several things: Eton, Berkshire a town in England. Eton College a public school in Eton, Berkshire. Eton, Georgia a city in the United States See also: Eaton. and Trinity College, CambridgeTrinity College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Trinity is the largest and richest of the colleges in Cambridge, and is now a home to around 600 undergraduates, 300 graduates, and over 160 Fellows.. In 1874Events January 1 New York City annexes The Bronx January 23 Marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, to Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, only daughter of Emperor Alexander III of Russia. January Signing of the Pangkor Tr he became Conservative M.P. for Hertford, and represented that constituency until 1885. In the spring of 1878 Balfour became private secretary to his uncle, Lord Salisbury. In that capacity he accompanied Salisbury to the Congress of Berlin, and gained his first experience of international politics in connection with the settlement of the Russo-Turkish conflict. At the same time, he became known in the world of letters, the intellectual subtlety and literary capacity of his Defence of Philosophic Doubt (1879) suggesting that he might make a reputation as a speculative thinker.
Balfour divided his time between the political arena and the study. Released from his duties as private secretary by the general election of 1880, he began to take a more active part in parliamentary affairs. He was for a time politically associated with Lord Randolph Churchill, Sir Henry Drummond Wolff and John Gorst , the quartet becoming known as the "Fourth Party," and gaining notoriety by the freedom of the criticisms directed by its leader, Lord Randolph Churchill, against Sir Stafford Northcote, Lord Cross and other prominent members of the "old gang." Balfour was thought to be merely amusing himself with politics. The House did not take him quite seriously. Members looked upon him merely as a young member of the governing classes who remained in the House because it was the proper thing for a man of family to do.