Edward Montagu Cavendish Stanley, Lord Stanley, (9 July 1894 – 16 October 1938) was a British Conservative politician. The eldest son of the 17th Earl of Derby, he held minor political office before being appointed Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs in 1938, sitting in the cabinet alongside his brother Oliver Stanley. However, Stanley died only five months after this appointment, aged 44; his eldest son, Edward John Stanley, later succeeded to the earldom in his stead.
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Early life and education
Stanley was born at 36 Great Cumberland Place, Marylebone, London, the eldest son and heir apparent of Hon. Edward Stanley, later to become 17th Earl of Derby, by Lady Alice Montagu.
Stanley was spectacularly well-connected to leading political families. His father was at the time of Stanley's birth Conservative MP for Westhoughton, Lancashire, and went on to serve as Secretary of State for War from 1916 to 1918 and from 1922 to 1924. His paternal grandfather, the 16th Earl of Derby, was a former Lancashire MP, Colonial Secretary, and Governor General of Canada. His great-uncle, the 15th Earl, twice served as Foreign Secretary and was Prime Minister Lord Salisbury's stepfather, while his best-known ancestor was his great-grandfather, the 14th Earl, who was Leader of the Conservative Party for 22 years (1846–1868; the longest tenure in that office) and Prime Minister three times (1852, 1858–59, and 1866–68). His paternal grandmother, Lady Constance Villiers, was daughter of Lord Clarendon, who himself served on three occasions as Foreign Secretary. Lord Stanley's paternal uncles Sir Arthur and Sir George also served as Conservative MPs.