Editing J. C. C. Davidson (section)

==Political career, 1920–1937==
Davidson entered parliament unopposed for [[Hemel Hempstead (UK Parliament constituency)|Hemel Hempstead]] in 1920 by-election<ref name="dnb"/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32122 |date=12 November 1920 |page=10974 }}</ref> and became [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] to Bonar Law, then Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons. The latter resigned on the grounds of ill health in May 1921, when Davidson became PPS to Stanley Baldwin, who by then had become [[President of the Board of Trade]].<ref name="dnb"/> The following year he urged Bonar Law to return and accept the leadership of the Conservative Party if the party voted against continuing the [[United Kingdom coalition government (1916–1922)|coalition government]] headed by [[David Lloyd George]]. Despite the wishes of the party leadership, a majority of MP's voted against continuing the coalition at the [[Carlton Club meeting, 19 October 1922|Carlton Club meeting in October 1922]]. [[Austen Chamberlain]] resigned as party leader and was succeeded by [[Bonar Law]]. Shortly afterwards Bonar Law was asked to form a government and once again appointed Davidson as his Parliamentary Private Secretary and unofficial unpaid private secretary.<ref name="dnb"/>

Bonar Law resigned in May 1923 after his health collapsed. Davidson was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] in the short [[1923 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours|resignation honours list]] which was issued that same month.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32827 |date=25 May 1923 |page=3739 }}</ref> Stanley Baldwin was chosen to succeed Bonar Law as Prime Minister over the claims of [[Lord Curzon]]. In his biography of Davidson in the ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]'', [[Robert Blake, Baron Blake|Robert Blake]] writes that Davidson's role in the appointment of Baldwin remains a puzzle. [[Lord Stamfordham]], [[George V]]'s private secretary, sounded out Davidson on Bonar Law's wishes for his successor. Bonar Law, now gravely ill, asked not to be involved, but it was apparent that he favoured Baldwin although he could not overlook the claims of party grandee, Curzon. In 1954, a memorandum was found in the [[Royal Archives]] that had obviously been dictated by Davidson and clearly argued for the claims of Baldwin over Curzon. The note had been handed over to Stamfordham by [[Ronald Waterhouse (private secretary)|Sir Ronald Waterhouse]], another of Bonar Law's secretaries, at the same time as his official resignation as Prime Minister. Stamfordham had noted on the memorandum that it "practically expressed the views of Mr. Bonar Law". According to Blake, there was nothing in the memorandum to substantiate that claim. Davidson subsequently said that he had dictated the note after being asked by Stamfordham about the opinion of back-bench MP's. However, Blake argued, "In any case, the result [Baldwin as Bonar Law's successor] was affected only marginally. The King's decision was firmly based on his own good sense and the powerful arguments of [[Arthur Balfour|Balfour]] against the choice of a [[peerage|peer]] as prime minister".<ref name="dnb"/>

Following the appointment of Baldwin as prime minister, Davidson entered the government as [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]],<ref name="dnb"/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32828 |date=29 May 1923 |page=3741 }}</ref> and effectively continued as the prime minister's private secretary. However, he lost his seat in parliament at the [[1923 United Kingdom general election|general election of December 1923]], but regained it already in the [[1924 United Kingdom general election|general election in October the following year]]. Baldwin once again formed an administration after the brief first-ever [[Labour Government 1924|1924 Labour government]], and made Davidson [[Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty]]. In this post he was forced to deal with cuts in naval expenditure proposed by the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], [[Winston Churchill]], especially regarding the construction of new cruisers. He served as deputy chief civil commissioner during the [[general strike of 1926]], with responsibility for publicity. He also managed the short-lived ''[[British Gazette]]'' during the strike and arranged for the broadcasting of official bulletins.<ref name="dnb"/>

In 1926 Davidson left the government to take up the post of [[Chairman of the Conservative Party]], which he remained until 1930. He was primarily charged with raising cash for the party and cleaning up the honours system, which had fallen into disrepute following informal cash-for-honours system instigated by Lloyd George in 1918. He was also the driving force behind the establishment of [[Ashridge Business School|Ashridge]] in memory of Bonar Law.<ref name="dnb"/> In 1928 he was sworn of the [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Council]].<ref name="dnb"/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33354 |date=7 February 1928 |page=831 }}</ref> According to Blake, Davidson "left a lasting imprint on the organization of the party, including the creation of the Research Department, and many of the changes attributed to his successor, [[Neville Chamberlain]], were in fact his". However, Davidson came under criticism after the defeat at the [[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929 general election]] and resigned in 1930.<ref name="dnb"/>

In November 1931 Davidson was once again appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the National Government headed by [[Ramsay MacDonald]].<ref name="dnb"/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33771 |date=13 November 1931 |page=7311 }}</ref> He was chairman of the Indian States inquiry committee and travelled to [[India]] in 1932 and was made a member of the joint select committee whose proposals resulted in the [[Government of India Act 1935]]. He declined the [[Governor of Bombay|governorship of Bombay]]. He invited Joachim von Ribbentrop to meet with Stanley Baldwin for the first time in Westminster to discuss Hitler's ideas about equality in armaments.<ref>{{cite book | last=Ribbentrop | first=Joachim von | title=The Ribbentrop memoirs | publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |location=London | year=1954 | oclc=922196089 | page=36}}</ref> He remained Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when Baldwin became Prime Minister for the third time in 1935, although he was never a member of the cabinet.<ref name="dnb"/> The latter year he was also made a Knight Grand Cross of the [[Royal Victorian Order]] (GCVO). He stepped down from the government and the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] after [[Neville Chamberlain]] became Prime Minister in May 1937.<ref name="dnb"/> The following June he was elevated to the peerage as '''Viscount Davidson''', of Little Gaddesden in the County of Hertford.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34410 |date=22 June 1937 |page=4010 }}</ref> He was succeeded as MP by his wife, [[Frances Davidson, Viscountess Davidson|Frances, Viscountess Davidson]] (see below).<ref name="dnb"/>