Austen Chamberlain
Austen Chamberlain was a Liberal Unionist and later Conservative politician, and member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
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History
Austin was raised as the heir to his father's political dynasty. Joseph Chamberlain was a leading figure in the Liberal Unionist Party. Austin was first elected to the House of Commons in 1892.
Chamberlain was appointed to the Admiralty in 1895 under the Conservative-Unionist coalition led by Gascoyne-Cecil. He joined the cabinet in 1902 as postmaster general when Balfour succeeded as the coalition leader, and then became chancellor of the exchequer in 1903. He was a leading advocate of tariff reform, an issue that would continue to fragment the Conservatives for over a decade.
Following poor election results in 1910, the Liberal Unionists negotiating a merger with the Conservatives. Even before this was made official in 1912, Chamberlain was a major candidate for leadership of the Conservative Party. Ultimately though, Law became leader.
During World War 1, the Conservatives agreed to join coalition under the Liberal Asquith government. George succeeded Asquith after a year. Chamberlain had initially served in the India Office but resigned following an inquiry into campaigns under his jurisdiction, including the Siege of Kut.
He returned to the cabinet as minister without portfolio within a year, then reprised the role of chancellor the year after.
Even following the end of the war, the coalition was overwhelmingly popular, so it was continued. Law resigned as leader in 1921 due to health, leaving Chamberlain to succeed.
By 1922 however, Conservative discontent with the coalition had grown substantially. A backbench revolt known as the Carlton Club meeting coordinated a withdrawal of confidence in the government, forced all members serving in the coalition government to resign, and ultimately triggered new elections. Chamberlain resigned and Law returned to leadership.
In 1924, Chamberlain was appointed to the foreign secretary. He negotiated the Locarno Pact.
MacDonald led Labour to win a majority in the May 1929 general elections. Chamberlain then resigned from government and largely retired from politics.
He briefly returned for MacDonald's coalition government in 1931, serving in the Admiralty again, but resigned within months following the Invergordon Mutiny.
He remained a member of the Parliament up to his death in 1937.