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For other people named Walter Runciman, see Walter Runciman (disambiguation).
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford PC (19 November 1870 – 14 November 1949) was a prominent Liberal, later National Liberal politician in the United Kingdom from the 1900s until the 1930s.
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Background
Runciman was the son of the shipping magnate Walter Runciman, 1st Baron Runciman.
Politicalcareer, 1899-1929
Runciman was first elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) in a two-member by-election for Oldham in 1899,[1] defeating the Conservative candidates, James Mawdsley and Winston Churchill. After winning, Runciman is reported to have commented to Churchill: "Don't worry, I don't think this is the last the country has heard of either of us."[citation needed] The following year in the1900 general election Churchill stood against Runciman again and defeated him.[1]
Runciman soon returned to Parliament for Dewsbury in 1902[2] and steadily rose through the ranks of the Liberal Party. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman in 1905, a post he held until 1907, and then served as Financial Secretary to the Treasuryuntil 1908. In April of the latter year he was sworn of the Privy Council[3] and appointed President of the Board of Education by the new Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, which position he retained for three years, followed by another three years as President of the Board of Agriculture.
In 1914, on the outbreak of war, the President of the Board of Trade, John Burns, resigned and Runciman wasappointed to succeed him. He held the position for the next two years but resigned in December 1916 when Asquith's government fell and was succeeded by a coalition headed by David Lloyd George. In the splits that were to rage in the Liberal Party for the next seven years Runciman remained prominent in opposition to Lloyd George, especially when the latter became party leader in 1926. Runciman lost theseat in 1918,[2] but returned for Swansea West in 1924.[4]
Political career, 1929-1940
In the 1929 general election the Liberals emerged with the balance of power between the Conservatives and Labour. Runciman took the seat of St Ives, which his wife Hilda had won in a by-election the previous year.[5] The Liberals soon found themselves heavily divided over how to respond to the Great Depression,whether or not to continue supporting the Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald and even over the basic direction of the party.[citation needed]
In 1931 the cause of the strife was seemingly removed when the Labour Government fell and was succeeded by an all party 'National Government' but further divisions emerged when it was proposed that the National Government call a general election to seeka mandate to introduce protective tariffs, a policy that was anathema to many Liberals, Runciman included. The Liberals officially threatened to withdraw from the government, but a group under Sir John Simon emerged as the Liberal Nationals, mainly composed of those who had been opposed to Lloyd George's leadership, who were prepared to continue to support the National Government. A compromise wasworked out whereby each party in the National Government campaigned on its own manifesto.[citation needed]
After the National Government won a massive majority in the 1931 general election the Cabinet was reconstructed. It was felt prudent to balance the key Cabinet committee that would take the decisions on tariffs and so Runciman was appointed President of the Board of Trade once more, in thebelief that he would serve as a counterbalance to the protectionist Chancellor of the Exchequer Neville Chamberlain. However like the other Liberal Nationals, Runciman came to accept the principle of tariffs. When in late 1932 the official Liberals resigned their ministerial posts, Runciman very nearly resigned with them but decided not to. In 1933 the official Liberals withdrew completely their...