Editing Stanley Baldwin (section)

=====Leader of the Opposition (1929–1931)=====
In [[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929]] Labour returned to office as the largest party in the House of Commons (although without an overall majority) despite obtaining fewer votes than the Conservatives.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Williamson |first=Philip |date=1982 |title='Safety First': Baldwin, the Conservative Party and the 1929 General Election |url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/10557/1/10557.pdf |journal=Historical Journal |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=385–409 |doi=10.1017/s0018246x00011614 |s2cid=159673425}}</ref> In opposition, Baldwin was almost ousted as party leader by the [[press baron]]s Lords Rothermere and Beaverbrook, whom he accused of enjoying "power without responsibility, the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages".<ref>{{Cite book |first=William D. |last=Rubinstein |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OdRixcpqvDwC&pg=PA176 |title=Twentieth-Century Britain: A Political History |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |date=2003 |isbn=978-0-3337-7224-9 |page=176}}</ref>

Ramsden argues that Baldwin made dramatic permanent improvements to the organisation and effectiveness of the Conservative Party. He enlarged the headquarters with professionals, professionalised the party agents, raised ample funds, and was an innovative user of the new mass media of radio and film.<ref>John Ramsden, ''The Age of Balfour and Baldwin, 1902–1940'' (1978)</ref>