Editing Stanley Baldwin (section)

===Appointment===
{{Further|First Baldwin ministry}}<!-- please do not change this link to [[Conservative government 1922–24]] -->
[[File:Stanley Baldwin 02.jpg|thumb|right|Baldwin, unknown date]]
In May 1923 [[Bonar Law]] was diagnosed with terminal cancer and retired immediately; he died five months later. With many of the party's senior leading figures standing aloof and outside of the government, there were only two candidates to succeed him: [[Lord Curzon]], the [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|foreign secretary]], and Baldwin. The choice formally fell to King [[George V]] acting on the advice of senior ministers and officials.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

It is not entirely clear what factors proved most crucial, but some Conservative politicians felt that Curzon was unsuitable for the role of prime minister because he was a member of the [[House of Lords]]. Curzon was strong and experienced in international affairs, but his lack of experience in domestic affairs, his personal character quirks and his huge inherited wealth and many directorships at a time when the Conservative Party was seeking to shed its patrician image were all deemed impediments. Much weight at the time was given to the intervention of [[Arthur Balfour]].{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

The King turned to Baldwin to become prime minister. Initially Baldwin was also [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] whilst he sought to recruit the former Liberal Chancellor [[Reginald McKenna]] to join the government. When this failed he appointed [[Neville Chamberlain]] to that position.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}