structural:reformatting
Return to Britain

Arthur Balfour 's refusal to recommend an earldom for Curzon in 1905 was repeated by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the Liberal prime minister, who formed his government the day after Curzon returned to England. In deference to the wishes of the King and the advice of his doctors, Curzon did not stand in the general election of 1906 and thus found himself excluded from public life for the first time in twenty years. It was at this time, the nadir of his career, that Mary died.

After the death of Lord Goschen in 1907, the post of Chancellor of Oxford University fell vacant. Curzon was elected as Chancellor of Oxford after by 1,001 votes to 440 against Lord Rosebery. He proved to be an active chancellor – " threw himself so energetically into the cause of university reform that critics complained he was ruling Oxford like an Indian province."