1930 Imperial Conference

The 1930 Imperial Conference was the sixth Imperial Conference bringing together the prime ministers of the dominions of the British Empire. It was held in London.^[1] The conference was notable for producing the Statute of Westminster, which established legislative equality for the self-governing Dominions of the British Empire with Great Britain, thereby marking the effective legislative independence of these countries.^[1] Economic relations within the British Empire was also a key topic with proposals for a system of Imperial preference - empire-wide trade barriers against foreign (i.e. non-empire) goods. These proposals were further discussed at the British Empire Economic Conference in 1932.

1930 Imperial Conference
Host country	United Kingdom
Date	1 October 1930– 14 November 1930
Cities	London
Heads of State or Government	8
Chair	Ramsay MacDonald (Prime Minister)
Follows	1926
Precedes	1932
Key points
Imperial preference, Statute of Westminster 1931

Background

The 1926 Imperial Conference produced the Balfour Declaration that Dominions were autonomous and not subordinate to Great Britain. The 1929 Conference on Dominion Legislation and Merchant Shipping Laws was intended to move from the Balfour Declaration's broad statement of principle to a substantive legal framework, but the Irish Free State and the Union of South Africa demanded greater practical autonomy than the other attendees would allow.^[2] The 1930 Conference would instead address the issue.^[3]

Historian George Woodcock argues it marks the beginning of the end of the British Empire.^[4]

The Conference

The conference was hosted by King-Emperor George V, with his Prime Ministers and members of their respective cabinets:

Nation	Name	Portfolio
United Kingdom	Ramsay MacDonald	Prime Minister (chairman)
Australia	James Scullin	Prime Minister
Canada	R. B. Bennett	Prime Minister
India	William Wedgwood Benn	Secretary of State
Irish Free State	W. T. Cosgrave	President
Newfoundland	Richard Squires	Prime Minister
New Zealand	George Forbes	Prime Minister
South Africa	J. B. M. Hertzog	Prime Minister

References

Citations

1. Marshall, Sir Peter (September 2001). "The Balfour Formula and the Evolution of the Commonwealth". The Round Table. 90 (361): 541–53. doi:10.1080/00358530120082823. S2CID 143421201.
2. Keith, A. Berriedale (1930). "Notes on Imperial Constitutional Law". Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law. 12 (4). Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law: 278–298 : 278. JSTOR 753800.
3. Keith, A. Berriedale (1931). "The Imperial Conference of 1930". Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law. 13 (1). Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law: 26–42. JSTOR 754081.
4. Woodcock, 1974.

Sources and further reading

• Holland, R. F. "The 1930 Imperial Conference." in Britain and the Commonwealth Alliance 1918–1939 (Palgrave Macmillan, 1981) pp. 115–126.
• JWW-B. "The Imperial Conferences of 1926-1930 and the Conduct of Foreign Policy." Bulletin of International News (1931): 3-11 online.
• Keith, Berriedale. "The Imperial Conference of 1930." Journal of Comparative Legislative and International Law 3d ser. 13 (1931): 26+.
• Woodcock, George. (1974) "1930: The Climacteric of Empire." History Today (Oct 1974), Vol. 24 Issue 10, pp 673–683 online.
• Report of the conference on the operation of dominion legislation and merchant shipping legislation 1929; presented to both Houses of the Oireachtas by the Minister for External Affairs (PDF). Official publications. Vol. P. 129. Dublin: Stationery Office. February 1930.
• "Imperial Conference, 1930. Summary of Proceedings". Journals of the House of Representatives. Session I-II, A-06, Appendix. New Zealand. 1931.