Arthur Balfour (1848–1930) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. During his time as Foreign Secretary in the Lloyd George ministry, he issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917 on behalf of the Cabinet, which supported a "home for the Jewish people" in Mandatory Palestine. During his tenure as prime minister, Balfour passed the Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903, which bought most Anglo-Irish land in the UK, as well as the Education Act 1902, which had a major long-term impact in modernising the school system in England and Wales. He secured the Entente Cordiale, an alliance that ended centuries of intermittent conflict between Britain and France and their predecessor states. This photographic portrait of Balfour was taken by George Charles Beresford in 1902.Photograph credit: George Charles Beresford; restored by MyCatIsAChonk