Bonar Law
Bonar Law was a Conservative politician, member of the Parliament, and prime minister of the United Kingdom.
History
Law was a successful iron merchant. He was approached by the Conservative Party to contest a Liberal borough; he would win that seat in the October 1900 snap elections.
Law made a name for himself as a leading proponent of tariff reform, an issue that would continue to fragment the Conservatives for over a decade. Gascoyne-Cecil had proposed raising tariffs solely to raise funds after the Boer War. The reform faction, led by Chamberlain, supported. In 1902, Law received appointment to the board of trade.
Balfour's government fell apart in 1905 (largely due to the debate over tariff reform), leading to Campbell-Bannerman calling snap elections. Law lost his competitive borough, but it was arranged for him to win a safe by-election shortly thereafter.
The January 1910 general election resulted in a hung Parliament, and eventually forced another election in December of that year. In the interim, the party was in turmoil over tariff reform. Balfour set a referendum on tariffs as a priority of the Conservative platform. As a test run, Law (being a well-known advocate) arranged to run in a more competitive seat on this issue. The Conservatives in general performed poorly, and he specifically did lose that race, but his campaign became emblematic for the reformer faction. Once again, it was arranged for him to win a safe by-election in 1911.
Balfour resigned as party leader that year, with a leadership contest held in November. The leading candidates were Chamberlain and Walter Long, but Law emerged as a compromise candidate that could avoid public disunity. He was elected by a nominally unanimous vote.
During World War 1, he agreed to join coalition under the Liberal Asquith government, in which he initially served as colonial secretary. George succeeded Asquith after a year, at which point Law was raised first to chancellor of the exchequer then to leader in the Commons. Even following the end of the war, the coalition was overwhelmingly popular, so it was continued.
Law resigned both from government and as party leader in 1921 due to his failing 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.
Law's health forced him to resign again in 1923, and he died shortly after.