Balfour, Arthur James (1848-1930), Earl of Balfour, served as British prime minister from 1902 to 1905, and was a leader of the Conservative Party for over 20 years. Two famous declarations bear his name. One in 1917 dealt with British support for Palestine as a national home of the Jews (see Balfour Declaration). The other was the report of the 1926 Imperial Conference, which defined the British Commonwealth of Nations as a free association of countries equal in rank.