Joseph Chamberlain Amongst the dignitaries present were former Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, Bonar Law, Chamberlain's sons Austen and Neville (then Lord Mayor of Birmingham), and other members of the Chamberlain, Hutton and Martineau families. Winston Churchill called Chamberlain "a splendid piebald: first black, then white, or, in political terms, first fiery red, then true blue". This is the conventional view of Chamberlain's politics, that he became gradually more conservative, beginning to the left of the Liberal party and ending to the right of the Conservatives. An alternative view is that he was always a radical in home affairs and an imperialist in
Rise of Neville Chamberlain the press lords, notably Lord Beaverbrook and Lord Rothermere for "Empire Free Trade", the removal of tariffs within the Empire, culminated in a crucial by-election at which the press lords ran their own candidate under the banner of the United Empire Party. Robert Topping, the General Director at Conservative Central Office, produced a memorandum showing that Baldwin's support had eroded tremendously. Chamberlain confronted Baldwin with the memorandum. Baldwin was badly shaken, and told Chamberlain he would resign. After a day, Baldwin reconsidered, and even considered giving up his seat and standing in the by-election himself. When Chamberlain told Baldwin that