William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne (17 October 1859 – 26 February 1942), styled Viscount Wolmer between 1882 and 1895, was a British politician and colonial administrator, who served as High Commissioner for Southern Africa.

[2] In November 1900, Selborne was sworn of the Privy Council[6] and made First Lord of the Admiralty under Salisbury, with a seat in the cabinet, an office he retained when Arthur Balfour became Prime Minister in 1902.

He had gone out with the intention of guiding the destinies of South Africa during a period when the ex-Boer republics would be in a transitional state between crown colony government and self-government, and letters patent were issued granting the Transvaal representative institutions.

[7] He ceased to be governor of the Orange River Colony on its assumption of Responsible government in June 1907, but retained his other posts until May 1910, retiring on the eve of the establishment of the Union of South Africa.

[2] The despatch, dated 7 January 1907 and known as the Selborne Memorandum, in which he reviewed the situation in its economic and political aspects, was a comprehensive statement of the dangers inherent in the existing system and of the advantages likely to attend union.

The force of its appeal had a marked influence on the course of events, while the loyalty with which Lord Selborne co-operated with the Botha administration was an additional factor in reconciling the Dutch and British communities.

[2] He returned to England with his reputation, according to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, "as a statesman enhanced by the respect of all parties, and with a practical experience, second only to that of Lord Milner, of British imperialism in successful operation."

In 1939, after the failure of the Munich Agreement and appeasement in general to halt Nazi Germany's expansionism in Continental Europe, he wrote a letter to The Daily Telegraph advocating for Winston Churchill to be admitted into the National Government Cabinet.