Who was the Prime minister of the United Kingdom in 1901?

Arthur Balfour, a Conservative who was in office from 11th July 1902 to 5th December 1905.

He signed the Entente Cordiale with France and established the Committee of Imperial Defence, although he had poor relations with King Edward VII and his Cabinet was split over the issue of free trade.

He was later ennobled and went on to sit in the House of Lords, during which time he supported the establishment of Palestine as an international homeland for Jewish people. A Zionist, though not a Jew himself, he became a hero amongst the Jewish people. He died in 1930, at the age of 82.