Editing Stanley Baldwin (section)

====Trade unions strike====
A defining feature of Baldwin's Second term was the [[1926 General Strike]], Baldwin handled the strike by using powers awarded to him in the [[Emergency Powers Act 1920]]. He deployed the military and volunteers to keep essential services running. The strike ended when it was found to not be protected by the [[Trade Disputes Act 1906]], leading to the strike being called off on 12 May lasting just 9 days. Baldwin's government was widely credited for such an effective response to the strike.<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/A924DA8E7E6BBDCEF26976C74B5C7199/S0020859000003497a.pdf/the-government-and-the-general-strike-1926.pdf]</ref>

At Baldwin's instigation [[William Weir, 1st Viscount Weir|Lord Weir]] headed a [[committee]] to "review the national problem of electrical energy". It published its report on 14 May 1925 and in it Weir recommended the setting up of a [[Central Electricity Board]], a state monopoly half-financed by the [[British Government|Government]] and half by local undertakings. Baldwin accepted Weir's recommendations and they became law by the end of 1926.<ref name="Middlemas and Barnes, pp. 393–4">Middlemas and Barnes, pp. 393–4.</ref>

The Board was a success. By 1939 electrical output was up fourfold and generating costs had fallen. Consumers of electricity rose from three-quarters of a million in 1920 to nine million in 1938, with annual growth of 700,000 to 800,000 a year (the fastest rate of growth in the world).<ref name="Middlemas and Barnes, pp. 393–4"/>