to employ Stanley Baldwin as his Parliamentary Private Secretary, a move that would have far-reaching consequences for Davidson himself and for the nation's history. Baldwin had up until then been an obscure back-bench MP, but his appointment as PPS to Bonar Law was his first move on the ladder of promotion. Davidson and Baldwin developed a close friendship which lasted until Baldwin's death in 1947. In 1918 he was responsible for the final draft of the "coupon" endorsing parliamentary candidates in the general election as representatives of the coalition government. In 1919 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). Political career, 1920–1937 Davidson entered parliament unopposed for Hemel Hempstead in 1920 by-election 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. The following year he urged Bonar Law to return and accept the leadership of the Conservative Party if the party voted against continuing the 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 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. Bonar Law resigned in May 1923 after his health collapsed. Davidson was made a Companion of Honour the same month. 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 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