View source for Arthur Balfour

{{Short description|Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905}}
{{About|the politician|the steel manufacturer|Arthur Balfour, 1st Baron Riverdale}}
{{Redirect|Lord Balfour|other peers known by this title|Baron Balfour of Glenawley|and|Baron Balfour of Inchrye|and|Earl of Balfour|and|Lord Balfour of Burleigh}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name             = The Earl of Balfour
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|OM|PC|DL|FRS|FBA}}
| image            = Arthur-James-Balfour-1st-Earl-of-Balfour.jpg
| caption          = Portrait by [[George Charles Beresford]], 1902
| office1          = [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]
| term_start1      = 12 July 1902
| term_end1        = 4 December 1905
| monarch1         = [[Edward VII]]
| predecessor1     = [[The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| successor1       = [[Henry Campbell-Bannerman]]
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |cont = yes |Senior political offices
| titlestyle       = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder
| embed            = yes
| office           = [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]]
| term_start       = 27 February 1906
| term_end         = 13 November 1911
| monarch          = {{ubl|Edward VII|[[George V]]}}
| primeminister    = {{ubl|Henry Campbell-Bannerman|[[H. H. Asquith]]}}
| predecessor      = [[Joseph Chamberlain]] (Commons Leader)
| successor        = [[Bonar Law]]
| term_start1      = 5 December 1905
| term_end1        = 8 February 1906
| monarch1         = Edward VII
| primeminister1   = Henry Campbell-Bannerman
| predecessor1     = Henry Campbell-Bannerman
| successor1       = Joseph Chamberlain (Commons Leader)
| office2          = [[Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Leader of the Conservative Party]]
| term_start2      = 11 July 1902
| term_end2        = 13 November 1911
| predecessor2     = The Marquess of Salisbury
| successor2       = Bonar Law{{Collapsed infobox section end}} }}
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |cont = yes |Ministerial offices {{nobold|1915{{nbnd}}1929}}
| titlestyle       = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder
| embed            = yes
| office           = [[Lord President of the Council]]
| term_start       = 27 April 1925
| term_end         = 4 June 1929
| primeminister    = [[Stanley Baldwin]]
| predecessor      = [[The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston]]
| successor        = [[Charles Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor|The Lord Parmoor]]
| term_start1      = 23 October 1919
| term_end1        = 19 October 1922
| primeminister1   = [[David Lloyd George]]
| predecessor1     = [[The Earl Curzon of Kedleston]]
| successor1       = [[James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury|The 4th Marquess of Salisbury]]
| office2          = [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]]
| term_start2      = 10 December 1916
| term_end2        = 23 October 1919
| primeminister2   = David Lloyd George
| predecessor2     = [[Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon|The Viscount Grey of Fallodon]]
| successor2       = The Earl Curzon of Kedleston
| office3          = [[First Lord of the Admiralty]]
| term_start3      = 25 May 1915
| term_end3        = 10 December 1916
| primeminister3   = {{ubl|H. H. Asquith|David Lloyd George}}
| predecessor3     = [[Winston Churchill]]
| successor3       = [[Edward Carson]]{{Collapsed infobox section end}} }}
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |cont = yes |<!-- Ministerial offices --> {{nobold|1885{{nbnd}}1903}}
| titlestyle       = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder
| embed            = yes
| office           = [[Lord Privy Seal|Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal]]
| term_start       = 11 July 1902
| term_end         = 17 October 1903
| primeminister    = [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury]]
| predecessor      = [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury]]
| successor        = [[James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury|The 4th Marquess of Salisbury]]
| office1          = [[First Lord of the Treasury]]
| term_start1      = 6 October 1891
| term_end1        = 15 August 1892
| primeminister1   = The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
| predecessor1     = The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
| successor1       = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| term_start2      = 25 June 1895
| term_end2        = 5 December 1905
| primeminister2   = {{ubl|The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Himself}}
| predecessor2     = [[The Earl of Rosebery]]
| successor2       = Henry Campbell-Bannerman
| office3          = [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]]
| term_start3      = 7 March 1887
| term_end3        = 9 November 1891
| primeminister3   = The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
| predecessor3     = [[Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn|Michael Hicks Beach]]
| successor3       = [[William Jackson, 1st Baron Allerton|William Jackson]]
| office4          = [[Secretary for Scotland]]
| term_start4      = 5 August 1886
| term_end4        = 11 March 1887
| primeminister4   = The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
| predecessor4     = [[John Ramsay, 13th Earl of Dalhousie|The Earl of Dalhousie]]
| successor4       = [[Schomberg Kerr, 9th Marquess of Lothian|The Marquess of Lothian]]
| office5          = [[President of the Local Government Board]]
| term_start5      = 24 June 1885
| term_end5        = 1 February 1886
| primeminister5   = The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
| predecessor5     = [[Charles Dilke]]
| successor5       = Joseph Chamberlain{{Collapsed infobox section end}} }}
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |cont = yes |Parliamentary offices
| titlestyle       = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder
| embed            = yes
| office           = Member of the [[House of Lords]]
| status           = [[Lord Temporal]]
| term_label       = [[Hereditary peer]]age
| term_start       = 5 May 1922
| term_end         = 19 March 1930
| predecessor      = ''[[Earl of Balfour|Peerage created]]''
| successor        = [[Gerald Balfour, 2nd Earl of Balfour|The 2nd Earl of Balfour]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}} }}
| office5          = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]
| constituency5    = [[Hertford (UK Parliament constituency)|Hertford]] (1874–1885)<br>[[Manchester East (UK Parliament constituency)|Manchester East]] (1885–1906)<br>[[City of London (UK Parliament constituency)|City of London]] (1906–1922)
| term_start5      = 17 February 1874
| term_end5        = 5 May 1922
| predecessor5     = [[Robert Dimsdale]]
| successor5       = [[Edward Grenfell]]
| birth_name       = Arthur James Balfour
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1848|7|25|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Whittingehame]], East Lothian, Scotland
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1930|3|19|1848|7|25|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Woking]], Surrey, England
| resting_place    = Whittingehame Church, Whittingehame
| father           = [[James Maitland Balfour]]
| mother           = [[Blanche Gascoyne-Cecil]]
| alma_mater       = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
| party            = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| signature        = Arthur Balfour Signature.svg
| signature_alt    = Cursive signature in ink
}}
'''Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|æ|l|f|ər|,_|-|f|ɔːr}};<ref>{{cite web |title=Balfour, Arthur James |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Balfour-Arthur-James?q=Balfour |website=Oxford Dictionaries |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627011715/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Balfour-Arthur-James?q=Balfour |archive-date=27 June 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 25 July 1848{{snd}}19 March 1930), was a British statesman and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician who served as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] from 1902 to 1905. As [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|foreign secretary]] in the [[Lloyd George ministry]], he issued the [[Balfour Declaration of 1917]] on behalf of the cabinet, which supported a "home for the Jewish people" in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Balfour Declaration {{!}} History & Impact {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Balfour-Declaration |access-date=8 March 2024 |website=Britannica.com }}</ref> and later issued the [[Balfour Declaration of 1926]] as Lord of the Privy Council, which announced a co-equal relationship between the United Kingdom and its [[Dominions]], laying the groundwork for the [[Statute of Westminster 1931]] which granted full independence to the former colonies.  

Entering Parliament in [[1874 United Kingdom general election|1874]], Balfour achieved prominence as [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]], in which position he suppressed agrarian unrest whilst taking measures against [[absentee landlord]]s. 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 United Kingdom general election|1895]] and [[1900 United Kingdom general election|1900]]. An esteemed debater, he was bored by the mundane tasks of party management.

In July 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 landowners. The [[Education Act 1902]] had a major long-term impact in modernising the school system in England and Wales and provided financial support for schools operated by the Church of England and by the Catholic Church. [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformists]] were outraged and mobilised their voters, but were unable to reverse it. In foreign and defence policy, he oversaw reform of British defence policy and supported [[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|Jackie Fisher]]'s naval innovations. He secured the [[Entente Cordiale]] with France, an agreement that paved the way for improved relations between the two states.  He cautiously embraced [[imperial preference]] as championed by [[Joseph Chamberlain]], but resignations from the Cabinet over the abandonment of free trade left his party divided. He also suffered from public anger at the later stages of the [[Boer War]] (counter-insurgency warfare characterised as "methods of barbarism") and the importation of Chinese labour to South Africa ("[[Chinese South Africans|Chinese slavery]]").  He resigned as prime minister in December 1905 and the following month the Conservatives suffered a landslide defeat at the [[1906 United Kingdom general election|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 [[People's Budget|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.

Balfour returned as [[First Lord of the Admiralty]] in Asquith's Coalition Government (1915–1916). In December 1916, he became foreign secretary in [[David Lloyd George]]'s coalition. He was frequently left out of the inner workings of foreign policy, although the [[Balfour Declaration]] on a Jewish homeland bore his name. He continued to serve in senior positions throughout the 1920s, and died in 1930, aged 81, having spent a vast inherited fortune. He never married. Balfour trained as a philosopher{{snd}}he originated an argument against believing that human reason could determine truth{{snd}}and was seen as having a detached attitude to life.

==Background and early life==
[[File:Lord Balfour's childhood home.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Whittingehame House]]
Arthur James Balfour was born on 25 July 1848 at [[Whittingehame House]], East Lothian, Scotland, the eldest son of [[James Maitland Balfour]] and Lady Blanche Gascoyne-Cecil.<ref name=odnb/> 

The name of Balfour is an ancient one in Scotland which was probably derived from a settlement near Markinch in Fife.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=R. J. Q. Adams|first=R. J. Q. |last=Adams |title=Balfour: The Last Grandee|page=7|date=2007|publisher=John Murray}}</ref>

His father was a Scottish MP, as was his grandfather [[James Balfour (died 1845)|James]]; his mother, a member of the [[Marquess of Salisbury|Cecil family]] descended from [[Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury]], was the daughter of the [[2nd Marquess of Salisbury]] and his first wife, Mary Frances Gascoyne (born 1802; m. 1821; died 1839),<ref>[[Carola Oman]], ''The Gascoyne Heiress: The Life and Diaries of Frances Mary Gascoyne-Cecil 1802–39''. Hodder & Stoughton 1968. p. n1.</ref> and she was a sister of the [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|3rd Marquess]], the future prime minister.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=250}} Arthur's godfather was the [[Duke of Wellington]], after whom he was named.<ref name=Tuch46>{{cite book|author-link=Barbara Tuchman|first=Barbara |last=Tuchman |title=The Proud Tower|title-link=The Proud Tower|page=[https://archive.org/details/proudtowerportr00tuch/page/46 46]|date=1966|publisher=Macmillan}}</ref> He was the eldest son, third of eight children, and had four brothers and three sisters: His elder sisters [[Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick|Eleanor]] and Evelyn, his younger siblings Cecil, Alice, [[Francis Maitland Balfour]] (later a Cambridge embryologist),<ref name=odnb/> [[Gerald Balfour, 2nd Earl of Balfour|Gerald]] (who also became a politician) and then his youngest brother [[Eustace Balfour|Eustace]], who became an architect. Arthur Balfour was educated at Grange Preparatory School at [[Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire]] (1859–1861), and [[Eton College]] (1861–1866), where he studied with the influential master, [[William Johnson Cory]]. He then went up to the [[University of Cambridge]], where he read [[moral sciences]] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]] (1866–1869).<ref>{{acad|id=BLFR866AJ|name=Balfour, Arthur}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=21 March 1930|title=Obituary: Lord Balfour|pages=9-10|work=[[The Times]]|issue=45466|publication-place=London}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Balfour met May Lyttelton in 1870 when she was 19. After her two previous serious suitors had died, Balfour is said to have declared his love for her in December 1874. She died of [[typhus]] on [[Palm Sunday]], 21 March 1875; Balfour arranged for an emerald ring to be buried in her coffin. [[Lavinia Talbot]], May's older sister, believed that an engagement had been imminent, but her recollections of Balfour's distress (he was "staggered") were not written down until thirty years later.<ref name="Adams2007">{{cite book|last=Adams|first=Ralph James Q. |author-link=R. J. Q. Adams|title=Balfour: The Last Grandee|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0ITAQAAIAAJ|year=2007|publisher=John Murray|isbn=978-0-7195-5424-7}}</ref>{{rp|29–33}}

Historian [[R. J. Q. Adams]] points out that May's letters discuss her love life in detail, but contain no evidence that she was in love with Balfour, nor that he had spoken to her of marriage. He visited her only once during her serious three-month illness, and was soon accepting social invitations again within a month of her death. Adams suggests that, although he may simply have been too shy to express his feelings fully, Balfour may also have encouraged tales of his youthful tragedy as a convenient cover for his disinclination to marry; the matter cannot be conclusively proven.<ref name="Adams2007"/>{{rp|29–33}}

In later years mediums claimed to pass on messages from her{{snd}}see the "[[Cross-Correspondences]]".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850–1914 |first=Janet |last=Oppenheim | author-link = Janet Oppenheim |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-521-34767-9 |pages=132–133 }}</ref><ref name="Wilson 2011 530">{{cite book |title=The Victorians |first=A. N. |last=Wilson |author-link=A. N. Wilson |publisher=[[Random House]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4464-9320-5 |page=530 }}</ref>

Balfour remained a lifelong bachelor. [[Margot Tennant]] (later Margot Asquith) wished to marry him, but Balfour said: "No, that is not so. I rather think of having a career of my own."<ref name=Tuch46/> His household was maintained by his also unmarried sister, Alice. In middle age, Balfour had a 40-year friendship with [[Mary Constance Wyndham|Mary Charteris (née Wyndham), Lady Elcho]], later Countess of [[Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss|Wemyss and March]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/27.67 |title=The Wyndham Sisters: Lady Elcho, Mrs. Adeane, and Mrs. Tennant |publisher=[[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |orig-year=1899 |date=February 2010 |access-date=4 June 2012 |last=Sargent |first=John Singer |author-link=John Singer Sargent}}</ref>

Although Adams writes that "it is difficult to say how far the relationship went", her letters suggest they may have become lovers in 1887 and may have engaged in [[sado-masochism]],<ref name="Adams2007" />{{rp|47}} a claim echoed by [[A. N. Wilson]].<ref name="Wilson 2011 530"/> Another biographer, Ruddock F. Mackay, believes they had "no direct physical relationship", although he dismisses as "unlikely" suggestions that Balfour was homosexual, or, in view of a time during the [[Boer War]] when he was seen as he replied to a message while drying himself after his bath, [[Lord Beaverbrook]]'s claim that he was "a [[hermaphrodite]]" whom no-one saw naked.<ref name="Mackay1985">{{cite book|last=Mackay|first=Ruddock F. |title=Balfour, Intellectual Statesman|url=https://archive.org/details/balfourintellect00mack|url-access=registration|year=1985|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-212245-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/balfourintellect00mack/page/8 8-9]}}</ref>

Balfour was a leading member of the social and intellectual group [[The Souls]].<ref>Moya Tönnies. ''Colonial Diplomacy through Art. Jerusalem 1918–1926''. Leiden: Brill, 2024, 56–62.</ref>

==Early career==
[[File:Arthur James Balfour 2.jpg|thumb|upright|Balfour early in his career]]
In 1874 Balfour was elected [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Hertford (UK Parliament constituency)|Hertford]] until 1885. From 1885 to 1906 he served as the Member of Parliament for [[Manchester East (UK Parliament constituency)|Manchester East]]. In spring 1878, he became [[Parliamentary Private Secretary|private secretary]] to his uncle [[Lord Salisbury]]. He accompanied Salisbury (then Foreign Secretary) to the [[Congress of Berlin]] and gained his first experience in international politics in connection with the settlement of the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish conflict]]. At the same time he became known in the world of letters; the academic subtlety and literary achievement of his ''Defence of Philosophic Doubt'' (1879) suggested he might make a reputation as a philosopher.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=250–251}}<ref name=":1" />

Balfour divided his time between politics and academic pursuits. Biographer Sydney Zebel suggested that Balfour continued to appear an amateur or dabbler in public affairs, devoid of ambition and indifferent to policy issues. However, in fact he actually made a dramatic transition to a deeply involved politician. His assets, according to Zebel, included a strong ambition that he kept hidden, shrewd political judgment, a knack for negotiation, a taste for intrigue, and care to avoid factionalism. Most importantly, he deepened his close ties with his uncle Lord Salisbury. He also maintained cordial relationships with Disraeli, Gladstone and other national leaders.<ref name="Zebel1973">{{cite book|first=Sydney Henry |last=Zebel|title=Balfour: A Political Biography|url=https://archive.org/details/balfourpolitical00zebe|url-access=registration |year=1973|publisher=University Press|isbn=978-0-521-08536-6|location=Cambridge}}</ref>{{rp|27}}

Released from his duties as private secretary by the [[1880 United Kingdom general election|1880 general election]], he began to take more part in parliamentary affairs. He was for a time politically associated with [[Lord Randolph Churchill]], [[Sir Henry Drummond Wolff]] and [[John Eldon Gorst|John Gorst]]. This quartet became known as the "[[Fourth Party]]" and gained notoriety for leader Lord Randolph Churchill's free criticism of [[Sir Stafford Northcote]], [[R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross|Lord Cross]] and other prominent members of the Conservative "old gang".<ref name="Zebel1973" />{{rp|28–44}}<ref name="Green2006">{{cite book|last=Green|first=Ewen |title=Balfour|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ooGADwAAQBAJ&pg=PT22|year=2006|publisher=Haus Publishing|isbn=978-1-912208-37-1|pages=22–}}</ref>

==Service in Lord Salisbury's governments==
[[File:Gws balfour 02.jpg|thumb|upright|Balfour {{circa|1890}}]]

===Irish Secretary===

In 1885, Lord Salisbury appointed Balfour [[President of the Local Government Board]]; the following year he became [[Secretary for Scotland]] with a seat in the cabinet.<ref>Peter Davis, "The Liberal Unionist party and the Irish policy of Lord Salisbury's government, 1886–1892." ''Historical Journal'' 18.1 (1975): 85–104.</ref> These offices, while offering few opportunities for distinction, were an apprenticeship. In early 1887, Sir [[Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn|Michael Hicks Beach]], the [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]], resigned because of illness and Salisbury appointed his nephew in his place. The selection was much criticised. It was received with contemptuous ridicule by the [[Irish Parliamentary Party|Irish Nationalists]], for none suspected Balfour's immense strength of will, his debating power, his ability in attack and his still greater capacity to disregard criticism.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=251}} Balfour surprised critics by ruthless enforcement of the [[Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act 1887|Crimes Act]]. The [[Mitchelstown Massacre]] occurred on 9 September 1887, when [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] (RIC) members fired at a crowd protesting against the conviction under the Act of MP [[William O'Brien]] and another man.<ref name="Comerford2010">{{cite book|editor-last1=Vaughan|editor-first1=W. E.|last1=Comerford|first1=R. V. |title=Ireland Under the Union, 1870–1921 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYNeAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA71|series=A New History of Ireland|volume=3|year=1976|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-958374-4|pages=71–72|chapter=Chapter III The Parnell era, 1883–91 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199583744.003.0003 }}</ref> Three were killed by the RIC's gunfire. When Balfour defended the RIC in the Commons, O'Brien dubbed him "Bloody Balfour".<ref name="O'Brien1976">{{cite book|last=O'Brien|first=Joseph V.|title=William O'Brien and the Course of Irish Politics, 1881–1918|url=https://archive.org/details/williamobrienc00jose|url-access=registration|year=1976|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|isbn=978-0-520-02886-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/williamobrienc00jose/page/43 43]}}</ref> His steady administration did much to dispel his reputation as a political lightweight.<ref>{{cite book|last=Massie|first=Robert|title=Dreadnought|location=New York|publisher=Random House|date=1991|pages=318–319}}</ref>

In Parliament he resisted overtures to the [[Irish Parliamentary Party]] on [[Home Rule]], which he saw as an expression of superficial or false [[Irish nationalism]]. Allied with [[Joseph Chamberlain]]'s [[Liberal Unionist]]s, he encouraged [[Unionists (Ireland)|Unionist]] activism in Ireland. Balfour also helped the poor by creating the [[Congested Districts Board for Ireland]] in 1890. Balfour downplayed the factor of Irish nationalism, arguing that the real issues were economic. Regarding ownership and control of the land, he believed that once violence was suppressed and land was sold to the tenants, Irish nationalism would no longer threaten the unity of the United Kingdom. The slogan "to kill home rule with kindness" characterised Balfour's new policy toward Ireland.<ref>Catherine B. Shannon, ''Arthur J. Balfour and Ireland, 1874–1922'' (1988) pp 281–288.</ref> The Liberals had begun [[Land Acts (Ireland)|land sales to Irish tenants]] with the [[Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881]] and this was expanded by the Conservatives in the [[Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act 1885|land purchase scheme of 1885]]. However the depression in agriculture kept prices low. Balfour's solution was to keep selling land and in 1887 lowering rents to match the lower prices, and protected more tenants against eviction by their landlords.<ref name="Zebel1973"/>{{rp|60–77}} Balfour greatly expanded the land sales. They culminated in the final Unionist land purchase programme of 1903, when Balfour was prime minister and [[George Wyndham]] was the Irish secretary. It encouraged landlords to sell by means of a 12% cash bonus. Tenants were encouraged to buy with a low interest rate, and payments drawn out over 68 years. In 1909, Liberal legislation required compulsory sales in certain cases. As the landlords sold out, they relocated to [[Great Britain]], giving up their political power in Ireland. Tensions in the countryside dramatically declined as some 200,000 peasant proprietors owned about half the land in Ireland. However, the Irish Parliamentary Party recovered after its bitter post-Parnell split was healed and became the dominant political force in Ireland once again, eventually using its position as Westminster kingmaker to secure the passage of a Home Rule Act when the Liberals returned to power. This led in turn to the Home Rule crisis, the formation of the Ulster Volunteers and Irish Volunteers, and a period of growing nationalist and unionist radicalisation that culminated in the [[Easter rebellion]] of 1916 and the subsequent War of Independence.<ref>Lawrence J. McCaffrey, ''The Irish Question 1800–1922'' (1968) pp 129–133, 167.</ref><ref>L. P. Curtis, Jr., ''Coercion and Conciliation in Ireland 1880–1892'' (1963) pp 424–434. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt183ppgd online]</ref>

===Leadership roles===
[[File:Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema.jpg|thumb|Balfour in 1891, by [[Lawrence Alma-Tadema]]]]
In 1886–1892 he became one of the most effective public speakers of the age. Impressive in matter rather than delivery, his speeches were logical and convincing, and delighted an ever-wider audience.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=251}}

On the death of [[William Henry Smith (1825–1891)|W. H. Smith]] in 1891, Balfour became [[First Lord of the Treasury]]{{snd}}the last in British history not to have been concurrently prime minister as well{{snd}}and [[Leader of the House of Commons]]. After the fall of the government in 1892 he spent three years in opposition. When the Conservatives returned to power, in coalition with the Liberal Unionists, in 1895, Balfour again became Leader of the House and First Lord of the Treasury. His management of the abortive education proposals of 1896 showed a disinclination for the drudgery of parliamentary management, yet he saw the passage of a bill providing Ireland with improved local government under the [[Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898]] and joined in debates on foreign and domestic questions between 1895 and 1900.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=251}}

During the illness of Lord Salisbury in 1898, and again in Salisbury's absence abroad, Balfour was in charge of the [[Foreign Office]], and he conducted negotiations with Russia on the question of railways in North China. As a member of the cabinet responsible for the [[Second Boer War|Transvaal negotiations]] in 1899, he bore his share of controversy and, when the [[Second Boer War]] began disastrously, he was first to realise the need to use the country's full military strength. His leadership of the House was marked by firmness in the suppression of obstruction, yet there was a slight revival of the criticisms of 1896.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=251}}

==Prime minister<span class="anchor" id="Premiership"></span><!-- linked from redirects [[Premiership of Arthur Balfour]], [[Prime ministership of Arthur Balfour]] -->==
{{Further|Balfour ministry}}<!-- please do not change this link to [[Unionist government, 1895–1905]] -->
With Lord Salisbury's resignation on 11 July 1902, Balfour succeeded him as prime minister, with the approval of all the Unionist party. The new prime minister came into power practically at the same moment as the [[coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra]] and the end of the [[South African War]].<ref name=":1" /> The Liberal party was still disorganised over the Boers.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=252}}

In foreign affairs, Balfour and his foreign secretary, [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne|Lord Lansdowne]], improved relations with France, culminating in the [[Entente Cordiale]] of 1904. The period also saw the [[Russo-Japanese War]], when Britain, an ally of the Japanese, came close to war with Russia after the [[Dogger Bank incident]]. On the whole, Balfour left the conduct of foreign policy to Lansdowne, being busy himself with domestic problems.<ref name="Zebel1973" />

Balfour, who had known Zionist leader [[Chaim Weizmann]] since 1906, opposed Russian mistreatment of Jews and increasingly supported Zionism as a programme for European Jews to settle in Palestine.<ref>{{cite book|first=Milton |last=Viorst | author-link = Milton Viorst |title=Zionism: The Birth and Transformation of an Ideal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frLPCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA80|year=2016|page=80|publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4668-9032-9}}</ref> However, in 1905 he supported the [[Aliens Act 1905]], one of whose main objectives was to control and restrict Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe.<ref>{{cite book|first=Shlomo|last=Sand|title=The Invention of the Land of Israel: From Holy Land to Homeland|location=London|publisher=Verso|date=2012|pages=14–15}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sabbagh |first=Karl |title=Palestine : a personal history |publisher=Atlantic |location=London |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84354-344-2 |page=103 |quote=Balfour warned the House of Commons in his speech of 'the undoubted evils that had fallen upon the country from an immigration which was largely Jewish'}}</ref>

The budget was certain to show a surplus and taxation could be remitted. Yet as events proved, it was the budget that would sow dissension, override other legislative concerns and signal a new political movement. [[Charles Thomson Ritchie]]'s remission of the shilling import-duty on corn led to [[Joseph Chamberlain]]'s crusade in favour of tariff reform. These were taxes on imported goods with [[trade preference]] given to the Empire, to protect British industry from competition, strengthen the Empire in the face of growing German and American economic power, and provide revenue, other than raising taxes, for the social welfare legislation. As the session proceeded, the rift grew in the Unionist ranks.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=252}} Tariff reform was popular with Unionist supporters, but the threat of higher prices for food imports made the policy an electoral albatross. Hoping to split the difference between the free traders and tariff reformers in his cabinet and party, Balfour favoured retaliatory tariffs to punish others who had tariffs against the British, in the hope of encouraging global free trade.
This was not sufficient for either the free traders or the extreme tariff reformers in government. With Balfour's agreement, Chamberlain resigned from the Cabinet in late 1903 to campaign for tariff reform. At the same time, Balfour tried to balance the two factions by accepting the resignation of three free-trading ministers, including Chancellor Ritchie, but the almost simultaneous resignation of the free-trader [[Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire|Duke of Devonshire]] (who as Lord Hartington had been the Liberal Unionist leader of the 1880s) left Balfour's Cabinet weak. By 1905 few Unionist MPs were still free traders ([[Winston Churchill]] crossed to the Liberals in 1904 when threatened with deselection at [[Oldham (UK Parliament constituency)|Oldham]]), but Balfour's act had drained his authority within the government.<ref name="Zebel1973" />

Balfour resigned as prime minister in December 1905, hoping the Liberal leader [[Campbell-Bannerman]] would be unable to form a strong government. This was dashed when Campbell-Bannerman faced down an attempt ("[[The Relugas Compact]]") to "kick him upstairs" to the House of Lords. The Conservatives were defeated by the Liberals at the general election the following January (in terms of MPs, a Liberal landslide), with Balfour losing his seat at [[Manchester East (UK Parliament constituency)|Manchester East]] to [[Thomas Gardner Horridge]], a solicitor and [[King's Counsel]]. Only 157 Conservatives were returned to the Commons, at least two-thirds followers of Chamberlain, who chaired the Conservative MPs until Balfour won a by-election for a safe seat in the [[City of London (UK Parliament constituency)|City of London]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=254}}

===Achievements===
According to historian [[Robert Ensor]], Balfour can be credited with achievement in five major areas:<ref name="Ensor1936">{{cite book|first=R. C. K. |last=Ensor|author-link=Robert Ensor|date=1936|title=England, 1870–1914|location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.108175/page/n5}}</ref>{{rp|355}}
# The [[Education Act 1902]] (and a similar measure for London in 1903);<ref>{{cite journal|first=Wendy |last=Robinson|title=Historiographical reflections on the 1902 Education Act|journal=Oxford Review of Education|volume=28|issue=2–3 |pages=159–172|date=2002|jstor=1050905 |doi=10.1080/03054980220143342|s2cid=144042590}}</ref>
# The [[Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903]], which bought out the [[Anglo-Irish]] landowners;<ref name="Bull2016">{{cite journal|last1=Bull|first1=Philip|title=The significance of the nationalist response to the Irish land act of 1903|journal=Irish Historical Studies|volume=28|issue=111|year=2016|pages=283–305|issn=0021-1214|doi=10.1017/S0021121400011056|s2cid=159230052 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Charles F.|last=Bastable|title=The Irish Land Purchase Act of 1903|journal=Quarterly Journal of Economics|date=1903|volume=18|issue=1|pages=1–21|jstor=1882773|doi=10.2307/1882773}}</ref>
# The [[Licensing Act 1904]];<ref>{{cite journal|first=Paul|last=Jennings|title=Liquor licensing and the local historian: the 1904 Licensing Act and its administration|journal=The Local Historian|volume=9|issue=1|date=2009|pages=24–37|url=https://www.balh.org.uk/uploads/tlh-downloads/The_Local_Historian_39.1_text.pdf#page=24}}{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
# In military policy, the creation of the [[Committee of Imperial Defence]] (1904) and support for Sir [[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|John Fisher]]'s naval reforms.
# In foreign policy, the Anglo-French Convention (1904), which formed the basis of the [[Entente Cordiale]] with France.

The Education Act lasted four decades and eventually was highly praised. Eugene Rasor states, "Balfour was credited and much praised from many perspectives with the success [of the Education Act 1902]. His commitment to education was fundamental and strong."<ref name="Rasor1998">{{cite book|first=Eugene L.|last=Rasor|title=Arthur James Balfour, 1848–1930: Historiography and Annotated Bibliography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TtkyzM3nj1kC&pg=PA20|year=1998|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0-313-28877-7}}</ref>{{rp|20}} At the time it hurt Balfour because the Liberal party used it to rally their Noncomformist supporters. Ensor said the Act ranked:
{{blockquote|among the two or three greatest constructive measures of the twentieth century....[He did not write it] but no statesman less dominated than Balfour was by the concept of national efficiency would have taken it up and carried it through, since its cost on the side of votes was obvious and deterrent....Public money was thus made available for the first time to ensure properly paid teachers and a standardised level of efficiency for all children alike [including the Anglican and Catholic schools].<ref name="Ensor1936" />{{rp|355–56}}
}}

For most of the 19th century, the very powerful political and economic position of the [[Church of Ireland]] (Anglican) landowners opposed the political aspirations of Irish nationalists. Balfour's solution was to buy them out, not by compulsion, but by offering the owners a full immediate payment and a 12% bonus on the sales price. The British government purchased 13 million acres (53,000 km2) by 1920, and sold farms to the tenants at low payments spread over seven decades. It would cost money, but all sides proved amenable.<ref name="Ensor1936" />{{rp|358–60}} Starting in 1923 the Irish government bought out most of the remaining landowners, and in 1933 diverted payments being made to the British treasury and used them for local improvements.<ref name="Lee1989">{{cite book|first=J. J. |last=Lee|title=Ireland 1912–1985: politics and society|date=1989|page=71}}</ref>

Balfour's introduction of Chinese coolie labour in South Africa enabled the Liberals to counterattack, charging that his measures amounted to "Chinese slavery".<ref name="Ensor1936" />{{rp|355, 376–78}}<ref>{{cite journal|first=Scott C.|last=Spencer|title='British Liberty Stained:' Chinese Slavery, Imperial Rhetoric, and the 1906 British General Election|journal=Madison Historical Review|volume=7|issue=1|date=2014|pages=3–|url=http://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=mhr}}</ref> Likerwise Liberals energised the Nonconformists when they attacked Balfour's Licensing Act 1904 which paid pub owners to close down. In the long run it did reduce the great oversupply of pubs, while in the short run Balfour's party was hurt.<ref name="Ensor1936" />{{rp|360–61}}

Balfour failed to solve his greatest political challenge{{snd}}the debate over tariffs that ripped his party apart. Chamberlain proposed to turn the Empire into a closed [[trade bloc]] protected by high tariffs against imports from Germany and the United States. He argued that tariff reform would revive a flagging British economy, strengthen imperial ties with the dominions and the colonies, and produce a positive programme that would facilitate reelection. He was vehemently opposed by Conservative free traders who denounced the proposal as economically fallacious, and open to the charge of raising food prices in Britain. Balfour tried to forestall disruption by removing key ministers on each side, and offering a much narrower tariff programme. It was ingenious, but both sides rejected any compromise, and his party's chances for reelection were ruined.<ref name="Goodlad2010" /><ref name="PearceGoodlad2013">{{cite book|first1=Robert|last1=Pearce |first2=Graham|last2=Goodlad|title=British Prime Ministers From Balfour to Brown|date=2013}}</ref>{{rp|4–6}}

Historians generally praised Balfour's achievements in military and foreign policy. {{harvnb|Cannon|Crowcroft|2015}} stress the importance of the Anglo-French Entente of 1904, and the establishment of the Committee of Imperial Defence.{{sfn|Adams|2002|p=199}} Rasor points to twelve historians who have examined his key role in naval and military reforms.<ref name="Rasor1998" />{{rp|39–40}}<ref name="Ensor1936" />{{rp|361–71}} However, there was little political payback at the time. The local Conservative campaigns in 1906 focused mostly on a few domestic issues.<ref>{{cite book|first=A.K. |last=Russell|title=Liberal landslide: the general election of 1906|date=1973|page=92}}</ref> Balfour gave strong support for [[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|Jackie Fisher]]'s naval reforms.<ref>{{cite journal|last=French|first=David|title=Defending the Empire: The Conservative Party and British Defense Policy, 1899–1915|journal=English Historical Review|volume=109|issue=434 |date=1994|pages=1324–1326|doi=10.1093/ehr/CIX.434.1324}}</ref>

Balfour created and chaired the [[Committee of Imperial Defence]], which provided better long-term coordinated planning between the Army and Navy.<ref name="Mackintosh1962">{{cite journal|first=John P. |last=Mackintosh|title=The role of the Committee of Imperial Defence before 1914|journal=English Historical Review|volume=77|issue=304|pages=490–503|date=1962|doi=10.1093/ehr/LXXVII.CCCIV.490|jstor=561324}}</ref> [[Austen Chamberlain]] said Britain would have been unprepared for the [[First World War]] without his Committee of Imperial Defence. He wrote, "It is impossible to overrate the services thus rendered by Balfour to the Country and Empire....[Without the CID] victory would have been impossible."<ref name="Young1975">{{cite book|editor-first=Herbert |editor-last=Van Thal|title=The Prime Ministers: From Sir Robert Walpole to Edward Heath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=duE_AAAAYAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Stein and Day|isbn=978-0-04-942131-8|pages=173|volume=2|chapter=Arthur James Balfour|first=Kenneth|last=Young}}</ref> Historians also praised the Anglo-French Convention (1904), which formed the basis of the [[Entente Cordiale]] with France that proved decisive in 1914.<ref name="MacMillan2013">{{cite book|last=MacMillan|first=Margaret |title=The War that Ended Peace: How Europe abandoned peace for the First World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sc_iAAAAQBAJ|year=2013|publisher=Profile|isbn=978-1-84765-416-8|pages=169–171}}</ref>

Balfour may have been personally sympathetic to extending suffrage, with his brother [[Gerald Balfour, 2nd Earl of Balfour|Gerald]], Conservative MP for [[Leeds Central]] married to women's suffrage activist [[Constance Lytton]]'s sister [[Elizabeth Balfour, Countess of Balfour|Betty]],<ref name=":0" /> but he accepted the strength of the political opposition to women's suffrage, as shown in correspondence with [[Christabel Pankhurst]], a leader of the [[WSPU]]. Balfour argued that he was "not convinced the majority of women actually wanted the vote", in 1907. A rebuttal which meant extending the activist campaign for women's rights.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Rise up, women! : the remarkable lives of the suffragettes|last=Atkinson|first=Diane|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2018|isbn=978-1-4088-4404-5|location=London|pages=8, 76–77, 137, 169, 184, 201, 209, 253, 267|oclc=1016848621}}</ref> He was reminded by Lytton of a speech he made in 1892, namely that this question "will arise again, menacing and ripe for resolution", she asked him to meet WSPU leader, Christabel Pankhurst, after a series of hunger strikes and suffering by imprisoned suffragettes in 1907. Balfour refused on the grounds of her militancy.<ref name=":0" /> Christabel pleaded direct to meet Balfour as Conservative party leader, on their policy manifesto for the General Election of 1909,{{dubious|date=August 2023}} but he refused again as women's suffrage was "not a party question and his colleagues were divided on the matter".<ref name=":0" /> She tried and failed again to get his open support in parliament for women's cause in the 1910 private member's [[Conciliation Bill]].<ref name=":0" /> He voted for the bill in the end but not for its progress to the Grand Committee, preventing it becoming law, and extending the activist campaigns as a result again.<ref name=":0" /> The following year Lytton and Annie Kenney in person after another reading of the Bill, but again it was not prioritised as government business.<ref name=":0" /> His sister-in-law Lady Betty Balfour spoke to Churchill that her brother was to speak for this policy, and also met the prime minister, [[H.H. Asquith]] in a 1911 delegation of the women's movements representing the Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association<ref name=":0" /> but it was not until 1918 that (some) women were given the right to vote in elections in the United Kingdom, despite a forty-year campaign.<ref name=":0" />

==Later career==
{{multiple image |total_width=300 |image1=Arthur Balfour, 1908.jpg |caption1=Painting by [[John Singer Sargent]], 1908 |image2=Arthur Balfour Vanity Fair 27 January 1910.jpg |caption2=Balfour caricatured by ''[[Vanity Fair (UK magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', 1910}}
[[File:British-Prime-Minister-Arthur-Balfour-with-Winston-Churchill.jpg|thumb|Balfour and [[Winston Churchill]] in 1911]]
After the [[1906 United Kingdom general election|general election of 1906]] Balfour remained party leader, his position strengthened by Joseph Chamberlain's absence from the House of Commons after his stroke in July 1906, but he was unable to make much headway against the huge Liberal majority in the Commons. An early attempt to score a debating triumph over the government, made in Balfour's usual abstruse, theoretical style, saw Campbell-Bannerman respond with: "Enough of this foolery," to the delight of his supporters. Balfour made the controversial decision, with [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne|Lord Lansdowne]], to use the heavily Unionist [[House of Lords]] as a check on the political programme and legislation of the Liberal party in the Commons. Legislation was vetoed or altered by amendments between 1906 and 1909, leading [[David Lloyd George]] to remark that the Lords was "the right hon. Gentleman's poodle. It fetches and carries for him. It barks for him. It bites anybody that he sets it on to. And we are told that this is a great revising Chamber, the safeguard of liberty in the country."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1907/jun/26/house-of-lords#S4V0176P0_19070626_HOC_294|title=HC Deb 26 June 1907 vol 176 cc1408-523|work=Hansard|access-date=12 May 2019}}</ref> The issue was forced by the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberals]] with Lloyd George's [[People's Budget]], provoking the constitutional crisis that led to the [[Parliament Act 1911]], which limited the Lords to delaying bills for up to two years. After the Unionists lost the general elections of 1910 (despite softening the tariff reform policy with Balfour's promise of a referendum on food taxes), the Unionist peers split to allow the Parliament Act to pass the House of Lords, to prevent mass creation of Liberal peers by the new King, George V. The exhausted Balfour resigned as party leader after the crisis, and was succeeded in late 1911 by [[Bonar Law]].<ref name="Zebel1973"/>

Balfour remained important in the party, however, and when the Unionists joined [[Asquith]]'s coalition government in May 1915, Balfour succeeded Churchill as [[First Lord of the Admiralty]]. When Asquith's government collapsed in December 1916, Balfour, who seemed a potential successor to the premiership, became [[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK)|foreign secretary]] in Lloyd George's new administration, but not in the small War Cabinet, and was frequently left out of inner workings of government. Balfour's service as foreign secretary was notable for the [[Balfour Mission]], a crucial alliance-building visit to the US in April 1917, and the [[Balfour Declaration]] of 1917, a letter to [[Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild|Lord Rothschild]] affirming the government's support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], then part of the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Schneer |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Schneer |title=The Balfour Declaration: the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict|publisher=Bond Street Books|year=2010}}</ref><ref>Moya Tönnies. ''Colonial Diplomacy through Art. Jerusalem 1918–1926''. Leiden: Brill, 2024. On opposition against him within the British administration of Palestine, 1, 59, 60, 75, 78, 85, 87, 96, 99–100, 115, 118–119, 121, 163, 208–209, 210, 269–270, 275, 279, 291–292, 360 (Figs. 4.7, 14.2).</ref>

Balfour resigned as foreign secretary following the [[Treaty of Versailles|Versailles Conference]] in 1919, but continued in the government (and the Cabinet after normal peacetime political arrangements resumed) as [[Lord President of the Council]]. In 1921–22 he represented the British Empire at the [[Washington Naval Conference]] and during summer 1922 stood in for the foreign secretary, [[Lord Curzon]], who was ill. He put forward a proposal for the international settlement of war debts and reparations (the [[Balfour Note]]), but it was not accepted.<ref name="Zebel1973" />

On 5 May 1922, Balfour was created [[Earl of Balfour]] and Viscount Traprain, of [[Whittingehame]], in the [[county of Haddington]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32691 |date=5 May 1922 |page=3512 }}</ref> In October 1922 he, with most of the Conservative leadership, resigned with Lloyd George's government following the [[Carlton Club meeting]], a Conservative back-bench revolt against continuance of the coalition. [[Bonar Law]] became prime minister. Like many Coalition leaders, he did not hold office in the [[Conservative government, 1922–1924|Conservative governments of 1922–1924]], but as an elder statesman, he was consulted by the [[George V of the United Kingdom|King]] in the choice of [[Stanley Baldwin]] as Bonar Law's successor as Conservative leader in May 1923. His advice was strongly in favour of Baldwin, ostensibly due to Baldwin's being an MP but in reality motivated by his personal dislike of Curzon. Later that evening, he met a mutual friend who asked 'Will dear George be chosen?' to which he replied with "feline Balfourian satisfaction," "No, dear George will not." His hostess replied, "Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. He will be terribly disappointed." Balfour retorted, "Oh, I don't know. After all, even if he has lost the hope of glory he still possesses the [[Grace Curzon, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston|means of Grace]]."<ref>{{cite book |last=Blake |first=Robert |title=The Conservative Party from Peel to Major |date=1997 |publisher=Arrow |location=London |page=213}}</ref>

Balfour was not initially included in [[Second Baldwin ministry|Baldwin's second government]] in 1924, but in 1925, he returned to the Cabinet, in place of the late Lord Curzon as [[Lord President of the Council]], until the government ended in 1929. With 28 years of government service, Balfour had one of the longest ministerial careers in modern British politics, second only to Winston Churchill.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22858351 |title=Chasing Churchill: Ken Clarke climbs ministerial long-service chart |work=BBC News |date=13 June 2013 |last=Parkinson |first=Justin }}</ref>

==Last years==
[[File:Lord Balfour in Biyamina with Vera and Chaim Weizmann, Nachum Sokolov and otehrs, 1925.jpg|thumb|Balfour in [[Mandatory Palestine]] with [[Vera Weizmann|Vera]] and [[Chaim Weizmann]], [[Nahum Sokolow]] and others in 1925]]
Lord Balfour had generally good health until 1928 and remained until then a regular tennis player. Four years previously he had been the first president of the International Lawn Tennis Club of Great Britain. At the end of 1928, most of his teeth were removed and he suffered the unremitting circulatory trouble which ended his life. Before that, he had suffered occasional [[phlebitis]] and, by late 1929, he was immobilised by it. Following a visit from Chaim Weizmann, Balfour died at his brother Gerald's home, Fishers Hill House in Hook Heath, [[Woking]], where he had lived since January 1929, on 19 March 1930. At his request a public funeral was declined, and he was buried on 22 March beside members of his family at [[Whittingehame]] in a [[Church of Scotland]] service although he also belonged to the [[Church of England]]. By [[special remainder]], his title passed to his brother Gerald.<ref name=odnb>{{cite ODNB|title=Balfour, Arthur James, first earl of Balfour (1848–1930)|id=30553|first1=Ruddock|last1=Mackay|first2=H. C. G.|last2=Mathew|authorlink2=Colin Matthew}}</ref>

==Personality==
[[File:Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour by Philip Alexius de László.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait by [[Philip de László]], 1908]]
Early in Balfour's career he was thought to be merely amusing himself with politics, and it was regarded as doubtful whether his health could withstand the severity of English winters. He was considered a dilettante by his colleagues; regardless, Lord Salisbury gave increasingly powerful posts in his government to his nephew.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=251}}

[[Beatrice Webb]] wrote in her diary:
{{blockquote|A man of extraordinary grace of mind and body, delighting in all that is beautiful and distinguished––music, literature, philosophy, religious feeling and moral disinterestedness, aloof from all the greed and crying of common human nature. But a strange paradox as Prime Minister of a great empire! I doubt whether even foreign affairs interest him. For all economic and social questions I gather he has an utter loathing, while the machinery of government and administration would seem to him a disagreeable irrelevance.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Jeanne |editor-last=MacKenzie|title=The Diary of Beatrice Webb|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LptIAAAAYAAJ|year=1983|publisher=Virago|page=288|isbn=978-0-86068-210-3}}</ref>}}

Balfour developed a manner known to friends as the ''Balfourian manner''. [[Harold Begbie]], a journalist, attacked him for what Begbie considered Balfour's self-obsession:
{{blockquote|This Balfourian manner...an attitude of mind—an attitude of convinced superiority which insists in the first place on complete detachment from the enthusiasms of the human race, and in the second place on keeping the vulgar world at arm's length....To Mr. Arthur Balfour this studied attitude of aloofness has been fatal, both to his character and to his career. He has said nothing, written nothing, done nothing, which lives in the heart of his countrymen....the charming, gracious, and cultured Mr. Balfour is the most egotistical of men, and a man who would make almost any sacrifice to remain in office.<ref>{{cite book|first=Harold |last=Begbie|title=Mirrors of Downing Street|url=https://archive.org/details/downing00begbuoft |date=1920|pages=[https://archive.org/details/downing00begbuoft/page/76 76]–79}}</ref>}}

However, Graham Goodlad argued to the contrary:
{{blockquote|Balfour's air of detachment was a pose. He was sincere in his conservatism, mistrusting radical political and social change and believing deeply in the Union with Ireland, the Empire and the superiority of the British race....Those who dismissed him as a languid dilettante were wide of the mark. As Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1887 to 1891 he manifested an unflinching commitment to the maintenance of British authority in the face of popular protest. He combined a strong emphasis on law and order with measures aimed at reforming the landowning system and developing Ireland's backward rural economy.<ref name="Goodlad2010">{{cite journal|first=Graham|last=Goodlad|title=Balfour: Graham Goodlad Reviews the Career of AJ Balfour, an Unsuccessful Prime Minister and Party Leader but an Important and Long-Serving Figure on the British Political Scene|journal=History Review|volume=68 |date=2010|pages=22–24|url=https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-244158794/balfour-graham-goodlad-reviews-the-career-of-a-j }}</ref>}}

Churchill compared Balfour to [[H. H. Asquith]]: "The difference between Balfour and Asquith is that Arthur is wicked and moral, while Asquith is good and immoral." Balfour said of himself, "I am more or less happy when being praised, not very comfortable when being abused, but I have moments of uneasiness when being explained."<ref name="gov._Hist">{{Cite web |title=History of Arthur James Balfour |work=gov.uk |access-date=4 July 2019 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/arthur-james-balfour }}</ref>

Balfour was interested in the study of [[dialect]]s and donated money to [[Joseph Wright (linguist)|Joseph Wright]]'s work on ''[[The English Dialect Dictionary]]''. Wright wrote in the preface to the first volume that the project would have been "in vain" had he not received the donation from Balfour.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Joseph |date=1898 |title=The English Dialect Dictionary, Volume 1 A-C |url=https://archive.org/stream/englishdialectdi01wriguoft#page/n13/mode/2up |location=London |publisher=Henry Frowde |page=viii}}</ref>

Balfour was into the 1920s a keen player both of [[lawn tennis]] and of golf. In the latter sport, he had a [[handicap (golf)|handicap]] of eight at the time he was prime minister, he won the Parliamentary Handicap between members of parliament in 1894, 1897 and 1910, and served as captain both of [[The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews]] in 1894 and the newly founded Rye club in 1895.<ref name=odnb/> Balfour was a patron of [[Manchester City F.C.]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Sanders |first=Richard |title=Beastly Fury: The Strange Birth of British Football |publisher=[[Bantam Books]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-55381-935-9}} p219</ref> He was also a keen motorist and received, as an 80th birthday present, a Rolls-Royce from both Houses of Parliament.<ref name=odnb/>

==Writings and academic achievements==
As a philosopher, Balfour formulated the basis for the [[evolutionary argument against naturalism]]. Balfour argued the Darwinian premise of selection for reproductive fitness cast doubt on scientific naturalism, because human cognitive facilities that would accurately perceive truth could be less advantageous than adaptation for evolutionarily useful illusions.<ref>{{cite book|first=John |last=Gray|title=The Immortalization Commission|url=https://archive.org/details/immortalizationc0000gray |url-access=registration |date=2011|publisher=Doubleday Canada |isbn=978-0-385-66789-0}}</ref>

As he says:

{{blockquote|[There is] no distinction to be drawn between the development of reason and that of any other faculty, physiological or psychical, by which the interests of the individual or the race are promoted. From the humblest form of nervous irritation at the one end of the scale, to the reasoning capacity of the most advanced races at the other, everything without exception (sensation, instinct, desire, volition) has been produced directly or indirectly, by natural causes acting for the most part on strictly utilitarian principles. Convenience, not knowledge, therefore, has been the main end to which this process has tended.|Arthur Balfour{{sfn|Balfour|1915|p=68}} }}

He was a member of the [[Society for Psychical Research]], a society studying [[psychic]] and [[paranormal phenomena]], and was its president from 1892 to 1894.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lycett|first=Andrew|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hN9aK1yW1OkC&pg=PA427|title=The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes|location=New York|publisher=Simon and Schuster|date=2008|page=427|isbn=978-0-7432-7525-5}}</ref> In 1914, he delivered the [[Gifford Lectures]] at the [[University of Glasgow]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Balfour |first=Arthur James|title=Theism and Humanism: Being the Gifford Lectures Delivered at the University of Glasgow, 1914|url=https://archive.org/details/theismandhumani00balfgoog/page/n7|year=1915|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton, George H. Doran Company|display-authors=0}}</ref> which formed the basis for his book ''[[Theism and Humanism]]'' (1915).<ref>{{cite web|last=Madigan|first=Tim|url=https://philosophynow.org/issues/81/The_Paradoxes_of_Arthur_Balfour |title=The Paradoxes of Arthur Balfour|website=Philosophy Now|issue=81|date=2010}}</ref>

===Views on race===

In 1906, during a House of Commons debate, Balfour argued that the disenfranchisement of the blacks in South Africa was not immoral. He said:<ref name="PS"/>

{{blockquote|We have to face the facts. Men are not born equal, the white and black races are not born with equal capacities: they are born with different capacities which education cannot and will not change.}}

Political scholar [[Yousef Munayyer]] has claimed that Arthur Balfour's antisemitism played a role in the issuance of the Balfour Declaration, citing Balfour's presiding over, as prime minister, the passage of the [[Aliens Act 1905]] that mainly aimed to minimize Jewish immigration to Britain from Eastern Europe.<ref name="PS">{{cite web
|url=https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/232119|title=It's Time To Admit That Arthur Balfour Was A White Supremacist — And An Anti-Semite Too|publisher=Palestine Studies|work=Yousef Munayyer|date=1 November 2017|accessdate=19 April 2023}}</ref> Balfour had written in 1919, in his introduction to [[Nahum Sokolow]]'s ''History of Zionism'', that the Zionist movement would:<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DLPpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA11|title=Britain's Moment in Palestine: Retrospect and Perspectives, 1917–1948|first=Michael J. |last=Cohen|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|isbn=978-1-317-91364-1 |accessdate=21 April 2023}}</ref>

{{blockquote|mitigate the age-long miseries created for Western civilization by the presence in its midst of a Body [the Jews] which it too long regarded as alien and even hostile, but which it was equally unable to expel or to absorb.}}

==Artistic==
[[File:Arthur James Balfour.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait by [[Walter Stoneman]], 1921]]
After the First World War, when there was controversy over the style of headstone proposed for use on British war graves being taken on by the [[Imperial War Graves Commission]], Balfour submitted a design for a cruciform headstone.<ref name="Longworth1985">{{cite book|last=Longworth|first=Philip |title=The unending vigil: a history of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 1917–1984|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c1_fAAAAMAAJ|year=1985|publisher=Leo Cooper in association with Secker & Warburg|isbn=978-0-436-25689-9 }}</ref> At an exhibition in August 1919, it drew many criticisms; the commission's principal architect, [[John James Burnet|Sir John Burnet]] said that Balfour's cross, if used in large numbers in cemeteries, would create a criss-cross visual effect, destroying any sense of "restful dignity"; [[Edwin Lutyens]] called it "extraordinarily ugly", and its shape was variously described as resembling a shooting target or bottle.<ref name="Longworth1985"/> His design was not accepted but the Commission offered him a second chance to submit another design which he did not take up, having been refused once.<ref name="Longworth1985" />{{rp|49}} After a further exhibition in the House of Commons, the "Balfour cross" was ultimately rejected in favour of the standard headstone the Commission permanently adopted because the latter offered more space for inscriptions and service emblems.<ref name="Longworth1985" />{{rp|50}}

==Popular culture==
Balfour occasionally appears in popular culture.<ref name="Rasor1998" />
* Balfour was the subject of two parody novels based on [[Alice in Wonderland]], ''[[Clara in Blunderland]]'' (1902) and ''[[Lost in Blunderland]]'' (1903), which appeared under the pseudonym Caroline Lewis; one of the co-authors was [[Harold Begbie]].<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Sigler|editor-first=Carolyn|date=1997|title=Alternative Alices: Visions and Revisions of Lewis Carroll's "Alice" Books|location=Lexington, KY|publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]]|pages=340–347}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Dickinson|first=Evelyn|title=Literary Note and Books of the Month|journal=United Australia|volume=II|issue=12|date=20 June 1902}}</ref>
* The character Arthur Balfour plays a supporting, off-screen role in ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series)|Upstairs, Downstairs]]'', promoting the family patriarch, [[Richard Bellamy (Upstairs, Downstairs)|Richard Bellamy]], to the position of Civil Lord of the Admiralty.
* Balfour was portrayed by [[Adrian Ropes]] in the 1974 [[Thames TV]] production ''[[Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill]]''.
* Balfour was portrayed by [[Lyndon Brook]] in the 1975 [[Associated Television|ATV]] production ''[[Edward the Seventh]]''.
* A fictionalised version of Arthur Balfour (identified as "Mr. Balfour") appears as British prime minister in the science fiction romance ''[[The Angel of the Revolution]]'' by [[George Griffith]], published in 1893 (when Balfour was still in opposition) but set in an imagined near future of 1903–1905.
* The indecisive Balfour (identified as "Halfan Halfour") appears in "Ministers of Grace", a satirical short story by [[Saki]] in which he, and other leading politicians including Quinston, are changed into animals appropriate to their characters.

==Legacy==
Balfour's premiership from July 1902 to December 1905 is unusual among modern prime ministers because it did not mark the culmination of his political career. Instead, it was merely an episode in a long life of public service, and he quickly recovered from the setbacks of his chequered premiership. He continued to serve in government for nearly a quarter of a century after leaving 10 Downing Street, despite being forced from the leadership of his party.<ref>Robert Eccleshall and Graham Walker, eds. ''Biographical Dictionary of British Prime Ministers'' (1998) p. 231. (</ref>

Balfour's reputation among historians is mixed. There is agreement about his achievements, as represented by [[G. M. Trevelyan]]:
:As the prime author of the Education Act, the Licensing Act, Irish Land Purchase and the Committee of Imperial Defence, Balfour has a strong claim to be numbered among the successful Prime Ministers.<ref>G. M. Trevelyan, ''British history in the 19th century and after: 1792–1919'' (1937) p 432.</ref>

But Trevelyan admits that, "owing to the portentous character of the electoral catastrophe of 1906 that claim is not always been allowed; yet Balfour had done great things on his own initiative and by his own strength of character."<ref>Trevelyan, (1937) p 432.</ref> John L. Gordon pays more attention to the defeats he suffered, stating:
:Although Balfour's achievements during his brief prime ministry are noteworthy... he is usually seen as an ineffective leader. He was unable to prevent a split in his party over trade policy, and the Unionist-Conservatives suffered a massive defeat in the election of January 1906. Failing to lead his party to victory in the two general elections of 1910, he resigned as leader in 1911.<ref>John L. Gordon, "Balfour," David Loades. ed., ''Readers Guide to British History'' (2003) 1: 122– 124.</ref>

===Memorials===
[[File:Balfour stamp.jpg|thumb|1967 Israel stamp commemorating the 50th anniversary of the [[Balfour Declaration]]]]

[[Balfouria]], a ''[[moshav]]'' in northern Israel, along with many streets in Israel, are named after him. The residence of the [[Prime Minister of Israel]], [[Beit Aghion]], is on the corner of Balfour St. in Jerusalem. The town of [[Balfour, Mpumalanga|Balfour]] in [[Mpumalanga]], South Africa, was named after him.<ref name="Raper1989">{{cite book|last=Raper|first=P. E. |title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names |year=1989|publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers|isbn=978-0-947464-04-2|via=[[Internet Archive]]|url=https://archive.org/stream/DictionaryOfSouthernAfricanPlaceNames/SaPlaceNames#page/n68/|page=68}}</ref>

A portrait of Balfour by [[Philip de László]] is in the collection of [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Trinity College, University of Cambridge|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/search/located_at/trinity-college-cambridge-5846_locations|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140511164255/http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/search/located_at/trinity-college-cambridge-5846_locations|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 May 2014 |website=BBC Your Paintings}}</ref> The 1914 portrait was vandalised (sprayed with red paint and slashed) by an activist of the [[Palestine Action]] network during the [[2023-24 Israel-Hamas war]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-68515368.amp "University of Cambridge Balfour painting damaged by Palestine Action"], Harriet Heywood & Brian Farmer for BBC News Cambridge. Posted and accessed 8 March 2024.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Magazine |first=Smithsonian |last2=Kuta |first2=Sarah |title=Pro-Palestinian Activists Damage Balfour Portrait at Cambridge University |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pro-palestinian-activists-damage-arthur-james-balfour-portrait-180983932/ |access-date=17 March 2024 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> The portrait was repaired, at an estimated cost of £24,000.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-05 |title=Palestine Action vandalism repairs in Cambridge to cost £24,000 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7j28pxy3po |access-date=2025-08-18 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>

The Lord Balfour Hotel, an [[Art Deco]] hotel on [[Ocean Drive (South Beach)|Ocean Drive]] in the [[South Beach]] neighbourhood of [[Miami Beach, Florida]], is named after him.

===Honours and decorations===

* His appointment as a [[Deputy Lieutenant]] of [[Ross-shire]] on 10 September 1880 gave him the [[List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom)|post-nominal letters]] "DL".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kx1KAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA4903 |title=The London Gazette |year=1880 |access-date=24 July 2016}}</ref>
* He was sworn of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] in 1885, giving him the style "[[The Right Honourable]]" and after ennoblement the [[List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom)|post-nominal letters]] "PC" for life.<ref>{{Cite news|title=The London Gazette|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25484/page/2919|date=26 June 1885|access-date=4 October 2021}}</ref>
* On 3 June 1916 he was appointed to the [[Order of Merit]], giving him the [[List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom)|post-nominal letters]] "OM" for life.<ref>{{Cite news|title=The London Gazette|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29608/supplement/5556|date=3 June 1916|access-date=4 October 2021}}</ref>
* He was elected an International Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1902 and an International Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1917.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 February 2023 |title=Arthur James Balfour |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/arthur-james-balfour |access-date=16 October 2023 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Arthur+Balfour&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=16 October 2023 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
* In 1919 he was elected [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of his old university, Cambridge, in succession to his brother-in-law, [[Lord Rayleigh]].
* He was made a [[Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter]] on 3 March 1922, becoming Sir Arthur Balfour and giving him the [[List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom)|post-nominal letters]] "KG" for life.<ref>{{Cite news|title=The London Gazette|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/32638/page/2137|date=14 March 1922|access-date=4 October 2021}}</ref>
* On 5 May 1922 Balfour was raised to the peerage as [[Earl of Balfour]] and Viscount Traprain, of Whittingehame, in the county of Haddington. This allowed him to sit in the [[House of Lords]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=The London Gazette|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/32691/page/3512|date=5 May 1922|access-date=4 October 2021}}</ref>
* He was awarded the [[Cross of Liberty (Estonia)|Estonian Cross of Liberty]] (conferred between 1919 and 1925), third grade, first class, for Civilian Service.
He was given the [[Freedom of the City|Freedom of the City/Freedom of the Borough]] of the following:
* {{flagicon|Scotland}} 28 September 1899: [[Dundee]]
* {{flagicon|East Lothian}} 20 September 1902: [[Haddington, East Lothian]]<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Mr. Balfour at Haddington|date=22 September 1902 |page=5 |issue=36879}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|Edinburgh}} 19 October 1905: [[Edinburgh]]

===Honorary degrees===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Honorary degrees conferred on Arthur Balfour, by country
|-
!scope="col"| Country
!scope="col"| Date
!scope="col"| School
!scope="col"| Degree
|-
!scope="row"| {{Flagu|England}}
| 1909 || [[University of Liverpool]] || [[Doctor of Laws]] (LL.D.)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/commsec/calendar/Honorary,Graduates,of,the,University.pdf|title=Honorary Graduates of the University|publisher=University of Liverpool|access-date=12 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207122338/https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/commsec/calendar/Honorary,Graduates,of,the,University.pdf|archive-date=7 February 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row| {{Flagu|England}}
| 1909 || [[University of Birmingham]] || [[Doctor of Laws]] (LL. D)<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Graduates of the University of Birmingham |url=https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/university/governance/honorary-graduates-of-the-university-as-of-2023.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240708183641/https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/university/governance/honorary-graduates-of-the-university-as-of-2023.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 July 2024 |access-date=27 September 2024 |publisher=University of Birmingham |date=July 2023}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row"| {{Flagu|England}}
| 1912 || [[University of Sheffield]] || [[Doctor of Laws]] (LL.D.)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.422814!/file/15_hon-grad.pdf|title=Honorary Graduates|publisher=University of Sheffield|access-date=12 May 2019|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095449/https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.422814!/file/15_hon-grad.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row"| {{Flagu|USA}}
| 1917 || [[Columbia University]] || [[Doctor of Laws]] (LL.D.)<ref>{{cite book |title=Honorary Degrees Awarded in the Years 1902-1932 |year=1933 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=59 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001451708 |access-date=27 September 2024 |quote=Right Honorable Arthur James Balfour, O.M., His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) on May 10, 1917, during a Special Convocation ceremony.}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row"| {{Flagu|Canada}}
| 1917 || [[University of Toronto]] || [[Doctor of Laws]] (LL.D.)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/Assets/Governing+Council+Digital+Assets/Boards+and+Committees/Committee+for+Honorary+Degrees/degreerecipients1850tillnow.pdf|title=University of Toronto Honorary Degree Recipients 1850 – 2016|publisher=University of Toronto|access-date=12 May 2019}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row"| {{Flagu|Wales}}
| 1921 || [[University of Wales]] || [[Doctor of Letters]] (D.Litt.){{citation needed|date=May 2019}}
|-
!scope="row"| {{Flagu|England}}
| 1924 || [[University of Leeds]] || [[Doctor of Laws]] (LL.D.)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19241217/372/0008 |title=Honour for Earl of Balfour |newspaper=[[The Scotsman]] |page=8 |date=17 December 1924 |issue=25,446 |url-access=subscription |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]}}</ref>
|}
{{Incomplete list|date=November 2015}}

==Arms==
{{Emblem table
| name = Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
| image = Coat of arms of Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour.svg
| imagesize = 220px
| crest = A palm tree proper.
| escutcheon = Argent, on a chevron engrailed between three mullets sable as many otters’ heads erased of the field.
| supporters = Two otters proper, collared or.
| motto =  ''Virtus ad æthera tendit'' (Virtue strives toward heaven).
| orders = The Most Noble Order of the Garter (Knight Companion - KG)<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 2019 |date=2019 |ISBN=9781999767051}}</ref>
}}

==See also==
*[[Balfour Declaration]]
*[[Balfour Declaration of 1926]]
*[[Palm Sunday Case]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book|first=R.J.Q. |last=Adams |editor-first=John |editor-last=Ramsden|title=The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century British Politics|date=2002}}
*{{cite book|editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Cannon |editor2-first=Robert |editor2-last=Crowcroft|title=A Dictionary of British History|edition=3rd|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2015}}
* Torrance, David, ''The Scottish Secretaries'' (Birlinn Limited 2006)
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Balfour, Arthur James|volume=3|pages=250–254|first=Hugh|last=Chisholm|author-link=Hugh Chisholm}} This article was written by Chisholm himself soon after Balfour's premiership, while he was still leader of the Opposition. It includes a significant amount of contemporaneous analysis, some of which is summarised here.

==Further reading==
===Biographical===
*{{cite book|last = Adams | first = R. J. Q. | author-link = R. J. Q. Adams | title = Balfour: The Last Grandee | publisher = John Murray | year = 2007 | url = https://archive.org/details/balfourlastgrand0000adam | url-access = registration | isbn = 978-0-7195-5424-7}}
* Alderson, Bernard. ''Arthur James Balfour, the Man and his Work'' (1903) [https://archive.org/details/arthurjamesbalfo00alde online]
* [[Piers Brendon|Brendon, Piers]]: ''Eminent Edwardians'' (1980) ch 2
* {{Cite EB1922|wstitle=Balfour, Arthur James|volume=30|pages=366–368|first=George Earle|last=Buckle|author-link=George Earle Buckle}}
* Dugdale, Blanche: '' Arthur James Balfour, First Earl of Balfour KG, OM, FRS- Volume 1'', (1936); ''Arthur James Balfour, First Earl of Balfour KG, OM, FRS- Volume 2- 1906–1930'', (1936), official life by his niece; [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000110326 vol 1 and 2 online ]
* Eccleshall, Robert, and Graham Walker, eds. ''Biographical Dictionary of British Prime Ministers'' (1998) pp.&nbsp;231–238. [https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000unse_k7v1 online]
* [[Max Egremont|Egremont, Max]]: ''Balfour: A Life of Arthur James Balfour'', [[William Collins and Company Ltd]], 1980
* [[E. H. H. Green|Green, E. H. H.]] ''Balfour'' (Haus, 2006). {{ISBN|978-1-904950-55-4}}
* Mackay, Ruddock F.: ''Balfour, Intellectual Statesman'' (Oxford 1985) {{ISBN|978-0-19-212245-2}} [https://archive.org/details/balfourintellect00mack online]
* Mackay, Ruddock F., and H. C. G. Matthew. "Balfour, Arthur James, first Earl of Balfour (1848–1930)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30553, accessed 19 Nov 2016] 18,000 word scholarly biography
* Pearce, Robert and Graham Goodlad. ''British Prime Ministers From Balfour to Brown'' (2013) pp 1–11.
* {{cite book|author=Raymond, E. T. |title=A Life of Arthur James Balfour|publisher=Little, Brown |url=https://archive.org/details/alifearthurjame00raymgoog|year=1920}}
* Young, Kenneth: '' Arthur James Balfour: The Happy Life of the Politician, Prime Minister, Statesman and Philosopher- 1848–1930'', [[G. Bell and Sons]], 1963 [https://archive.org/details/arthurjamesbalfo0000youn online]
* Zebel, Sydney Henry. ''Balfour: A Political Biography'' (ICON Group International, 1973) [https://archive.org/details/balfourpolitical00zebe online]

===Specialty studies===
* Curtis, Lewis Perry. ''Coercion and Conciliation in Ireland 1880–1892'' (1963) [https://archive.org/details/coercionconcilia00curt online]
* Davis, Peter. "The Liberal Unionist party and the Irish policy of Lord Salisbury's government, 1886–1892." ''Historical Journal'' 18.1 (1975): 85–104. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2638469 online]
* Dutton, David. ''His Majesty's Loyal Opposition: the Unionist Party in Opposition 1905–1915'' (Liverpool UP, 1992).
* Ellenberger, Nancy W. ''Balfour's World: Aristocracy and Political Culture at the Fin de Siècle'' (2015). [https://www.amazon.com/Balfours-World-Aristocracy-Political-Culture/dp/1783270373/ excerpt]
* [[Gollin, Alfred M.]] ''Balfour's burden: Arthur Balfour and imperial preference''(1965).
* Green, E.H.H. ''The Crisis of Conservatism: the politics, economics and ideology of the British Conservative Party, 1880–1914'' (Routledge, 1995)
* Halévy, Élie (1926) ''Imperialism And The Rise Of Labour'' (1926) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.226788/page/n1 online]
* Halévy, Élie (1956) ''A History Of The English People: Epilogue vol 1: 1895–1905'' (1929) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.226414 online] as prime minister pp 131ff,.
* Jacyna, Leon Stephen. "Science and social order in the thought of A.J. Balfour." ''Isis'' (1980): 11–34. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/230312 in JSTOR]
* Judd, Denis. ''Balfour and the British Empire: a study in Imperial evolution 1874–1932'' (1968). [https://archive.org/details/balfourbritishem0000judd online]
* Marriott, J. A. R. ''Modern England, 1885–1945'' (1948), pp.&nbsp;180–99, on Balfour as prime minister. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.122213 online]
* Massie, Robert K. '' Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War'' (1992) pp 310–519, a popular account of Balfour's foreign and naval policies as prime minister.
* Mathew, William M. "The Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Mandate, 1917–1923: British Imperialist Imperatives." ''British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies'' 40.3 (2013): 231–250.
* O'Callaghan, Margaret. ''British high politics and a nationalist Ireland: criminality, land and the law under Forster and Balfour'' (Cork Univ Pr, 1994).
* Ramsden, John. ''A History of the Conservative Party: The age of Balfour and Baldwin, 1902–1940'' (1978); vol 3 of a scholarly history of the Conservative Party.
* Rempel, Richard A. ''Unionists Divided; Arthur Balfour, Joseph Chamberlain and the Unionist Free Traders'' (1972).
* Rofe, J. Simon, and Alan Tomlinson. "Strenuous competition on the field of play, diplomacy off it: the 1908 London Olympics, Theodore Roosevelt and Arthur Balfour, and transatlantic relations." ''Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era'' 15.1 (2016): 60–79. [http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18020/1/Rofe-Tomlinson-strenous-competition-on-the-field-of-play-diplomacy-off-it.pdf online]
* Shannon, Catherine B. "The Legacy of Arthur Balfour to Twentieth-Century Ireland." in Peter Collins, ed. ''Nationalism and Unionism'' (1994): 17–34.
* Shannon, Catherine B. ''Arthur J. Balfour and Ireland, 1874–1922'' (Catholic Univ of America Press, 1988) [https://archive.org/details/arthurjbalfourir00cath online].
* Sugawara, Takeshi. "Arthur Balfour and the Japanese Military Assistance during the Great War." ''International Relations'' 2012.168 (2012): pp 44–57. [https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/kokusaiseiji/2012/168/2012_168_44/_pdf online]
* Taylor, Tony. "Arthur Balfour and educational change: The myth revisited." ''British Journal of Educational Studies'' 42#2 (1994): 133–149.
* Moya Tönnies. ''Colonial Diplomacy through Art. Jerusalem 1918–1926''. Leiden: Brill, 2024.
* Tomes, Jason. ''Balfour and foreign policy: the international thought of a conservative statesman'' (Cambridge University Press, 2002).
* [[Barbara W. Tuchman|Tuchman, Barbara W.]]: ''[[The Proud Tower]] – A Portrait of the World Before the War'' (1966)
* Young, John W. "Conservative Leaders, Coalition, and Britain's Decision for War in 1914." ''Diplomacy & Statecraft'' (2014) 25#2 pp 214–239.

===Historiography===
* Loades David, ed. ''Reader's Guide to British History'' (2003) 1:122–24; cover major politicians and issues
* Rasor Eugene L. ''Arthur James Balfour, 1848–1930: Historiography and Annotated Bibliography'' (1998)

===Primary sources===
* Balfour, Arthur James. ''Criticism and Beauty: A Lecture Rewritten, Being the Romanes Lecture for 1909'' (Oxford, 1910) [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Criticism_and_Beauty online]
* Cecil, Robert, and Arthur J. Balfour. ''Salisbury-Balfour Correspondence: Letters Exchanged Between the 3. Marquess of Salisbury and His Nephew Arthur James Balfour; 1869–1892'' (Hertfordshire Record Society, 1988).
* [[Jane Ridley|Ridley, Jane]], and Clayre Percy, eds. ''The Letters of Arthur Balfour and Lady Elcho 1885–1917.'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1992).
* Short, Wilfrid M., ed. ''Arthur James Balfour as Philosopher and Thinker: A Collection of the More Important and Interesting Passages in His Non-political Writings, Speeches, and Addresses, 1879–1912'' (1912). [https://archive.org/details/arthurjamesbalfo00balf <!-- quote=arthur balfour. --> online]

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* {{Hansard-contribs|mr-arthur-balfour|Arthur Balfour}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070426034743/http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page142.asp More about Arthur James Balfour] on the Downing Street website.
* {{NPG name|name=Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour}}
* {{Librivox author |id=9368}}
* Spikily, Samir: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/balfour_arthur_james_balfour_earl_of/ Balfour, Arthur James Balfour, Earl of], in: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/home.html/ 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War].

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