High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL (pronunciation: BAL-foor ; 25 July 1848 – 19 March 1930) was a British Conservative politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from July 1902 to December 1905, and was later Foreign Secretary in 1916–1919.