- Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden
Infobox Politician
name= Philip Snowden
imagesize=200px
birth_date =July 18 ,1864
birth_place = Cowling,Yorkshire ,England
death_place =Tilford ,Surrey ,England
death_date = death date and age|1937|05|15|1864|07|18
office =Chancellor of the Exchequer
term_start =7 June 1929
term_end =5 November 1931
predecessor =Winston Churchill
successor =Neville Chamberlain
term_start2 =22 January 1924
term_end2 =3 November 1924
predecessor2 =Neville Chamberlain
successor2 =Winston Churchill
party = Labour PartyPhilip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden (
July 18 ,1864 –May 15 ,1937 ) was a British politician and the first LabourChancellor of the Exchequer .Early life
Snowden was born in Cowling in the
West Riding of Yorkshire . His father had been a weaver and aChartist , and Snowden joined the Liberal Party and followed his parents in becoming aMethodist and ateetotal ler. While researching a speech on the dangers ofsocialism , Snowden instead became convinced by theideology , and joined theIndependent Labour Party . He became a prominent speaker for the party and wrote a popularChristian socialist pamphlet withKeir Hardie entitled "The Christ that is to Be" in 1903.In 1905, Snowden married
Ethel Annakin , a campaigner forwomen's suffrage . Snowden supported his wife's ideals and he became a noted speaker at suffragette meetings and other public meetings. In 1906, he became the Labour Party MP for Blackburn. He also wrote extensively oneconomics and advisedDavid Lloyd George on the 1909budget .During the First World War, Snowden stuck to his pacifist principles offering his support to
conscientious objector s. As a consequence of his anti-war sentiments he lost his seat in the 1918 general election. In 1922 he was elected to represent Colne Valley.Chancellor of the Exchequer
Upon
Ramsay MacDonald 's appointment as Prime Minister in January 1924 he was appointed as the Labour Party's first everChancellor of the Exchequer . He reduced some flat-ratetaxes , as well as abolishing sometariffs , but did not implement the socialist measures he had previously proposed. He lost his position in November of the same year when the Conservatives were re-elected to government.Snowden returned to government with Ramsay MacDonald's victory in May 1929 and was again appointed Chancellor. His economic philosophy was one of strict
Gladstonian Liberalism rather than socialism. His official biographer wrote that "He was raised in an atmosphere which regarded borrowing as an evil and free trade as an essential ingredient of prosperity".He was considered by many at the time and since as being the principal
opposition to the government following anyradical economic policy to tackle the Great Depression as well as blocking proposals to introduceprotectionist tariffs. The government eventually collapsed over arguments about abudget deficit amidst refusals by a significant minority of ministers to enact cuts inunemployment benefit.Snowden retained the position of Chancellor during the National Government of 1931. As a consequence he was expelled from the party, along with MacDonald and
Jimmy Thomas . In a BBC radio broadcast on 16 October 1931 he called Labour's policies "Bolshevism run mad" and contrasted them unfavourably with his own "sane and evolutionary Socialism". Snowden decided not to stand for parliament in the election of November 1931.Later life
He was created Viscount Snowden, of Ickornshaw in the West Riding of the County of York, and served as
Lord Privy Seal from 1931 to 1932 when he resigned in protest at the enactment of a full scheme ofImperial Preference and protectionist tariffs. He subsequently wrote his "Autobiography" in which he strongly opposed MacDonald. In the 1935 General Election Snowden supported a radical economic programme proposed byLloyd George , despite it being a complete repudiation of Snowden's own record. He died on May 15, 1937.External links
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