| Essential facts:
Born: 17 January 1863 (Chortlon-upon-Medlock,
Manchester)
Died: 26 March 1945 (Ty Newydd, Llanystumdwy,
Wales)
Nicknames: "The Welsh Wizard"; "The Man Who Won
The War"
Education: Llanystumdwy Village School and home
teaching
Family: Lloyd George was the eldest son and the
third of 4 children. He was married twice, and had 2 sons and 4
daughters
Age at appointment: 53 years, 325 days
First entered Parliament: 10 April 1890
Maiden Speech: 13 June 1890 in favour of
temperance reform
Total time as PM: 5 years, 317 days
Quotes:
On the House of Lords: "...a body of
five hundred men chosen at random from amongst the unemployed"
"A politician was a person with whose
politics you did not agree. When you did agree, he was a
statesman"
"A fully equipped duke costs as much to
keep as two dreadnoughts; and dukes are just as great a terror
and they last longer"
"What is our task? To make Britain a fit
country for heroes to live in"
Biography:
David Lloyd George was one of the 20th Century's famous
radicals. He grew up in Caernarvonshire, under the care of his
uncle, a cobbler. Partly self-taught, he excelled in his studies
at the village school, learning Latin and, later, French, in
order to qualify for legal training.
After school he worked for a Liberal lawyer who encouraged
his political activity. On starting his own legal practice, most
of his cases were against landlords, reflecting his championship
of the underprivileged. In 1890 he was elected Liberal MP for
Caernarvon, aged 27. His scathing
wit made him a dreaded but respected debating opponent in the
House.
| His opposition to the
Boer War made Lloyd George very unpopular, albeit well
known. Indeed, one public meeting at which he spoke even
ended in riots and deaths. Lloyd George was forced to
escape the meeting in disguise. |
 |
In 1906 he was made President of the Board of Trade, and
became recognised as a very able politician.
Asquith later promoted him to Chancellor. He became
one of the great reforming chancellors of the 20th century. He
introduced state pensions for the first time and declared a war
on poverty. He also passed laws making insurance against ill
health and unemployment compulsory. To pay for wide-ranging
social reforms as well as naval expansion, he intended,
controversially, to tax land. He responded to the resultant
outcry with passionate denunciations of landowners and
aristocrats. His reforming budget only passed after the 1911
Parliament Act greatly weakened the power of the House of Lords
to block legislation from the Commons.
During the war, Lloyd George threw himself into the job of
Minister for Munitions, organising and inspiring the war effort.
He later resigned in protest at the direction of the war, and on
the later resignation of Asquith, Lloyd George accepted an
invitation to form a government in December 1916. His dynamism
ensured he was regarded as the right man to give Britain's war
much needed impetus. Despite his success at centralising the
government machine, however, the army remained beyond the reach
of his reforming efforts.
With the end of the war in 1918 on Armistice Day he declared
"This is no time for words. Our hearts are too full of gratitude
to which no tongue can give adequate expression." Lloyd George
was acclaimed as the man who had won the war, and in 1918 the
coalition won a huge majority. It was the first election in
which any women were allowed to vote.
In 1919 Lloyd George signed the Treaty of Versailles, which
established the League of Nations and the war reparations
settlement.
He was troubled, however, by domestic problems. His agreement
to the independence of the South of Ireland was reluctant, and
he presided over a period of depression, unemployment and
strikes. There were also concerns that Lloyd George was
war-mongering in Turkey, and serious allegations that he had
sold honours. As a result of the many scandals he had attracted
his popularity faded.
When the Conservatives broke up the coalition, Lloyd George
handed in his resignation. He remained a very conroversial
figure. His own party could not decide whether to support him or
abandon him. He largely disregarded the problems facing the
party, preferring to work for himself. As a result, one of the
greatest Liberal leaders was also largely responsible for the
party's downfall. The Liberal party never ran the Government
again.
Lloyd George later precipitated the fall of
Neville Chamberlain by attacking his wartime
failure in Norway in 1940. In the meantime, he had occupied the
1930s with journalism and travel, and the writing of his
memoirs. In 1944 he was made Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, and
died the following year aged 82. He is buried on the banks of
the River Dwyfor. |
