"There is no more striking illustration of the immobility of British institutions than the House of Commons"

"The office of Prime Minister is what its holder chooses and is able to make of it"

"The War Office kept three sets of figures - one to mislead the public, another to mislead the Cabinet and the third to mislead itself"

"The Army will hear nothing of politics from me, and in return I expect to hear nothing of politics from the Army"

Herbert Henry Asquith was the son of a Yorkshire clothing manufacturer. He was educated at City of London School and Balliol College Oxford, where he became President of the Union, and was later called to the Bar.

In 1886 Asquith was elected as the Liberal MP for East Fife, despite the constraints of being a young widower with five children. He was a strong believer in free trade, Home Rule for Ireland, and social reform, all vital issues of the day. With his intellectual and a oratorical gifts he was quick to make his mark on the Commons. Despite the lack of previous ministerial experience, he became Home Secretary under Gladstone in 1892, and then again under Rosebery. Out of office for a decade from 1895, he returned to his barrister's practice, but also toured the country making influential speeches in favour of free trade.

In 1905 Asquith became Chancellor of the Exchequer in the new Liberal government. He introduced higher taxes on unearned income, which helped pay for another innovation - pensions for senior citizens over 70. In 1908 he became Prime Minister following the resignation of Henry Campbell-Bannerman.

Asquith now took on the House of Lords, which often blocked reforming Liberal bills, preventing them becoming law. The Lords unwisely rejected his Chancellor's (Lloyd George) budget of 1909. The December 1910 election was billed as a referendum on this Lords vs. Commons issue. After the election Asquith had no overall majority but it gave him the public support he needed. He introduced the Parliament Bill, which stripped the Lords of any veto over money bills or public legislation. The Bill became law in 1911. The Lords were forced into passing the bill by the threat that hundreds of new Liberal peers would be created if they did not approve the bill.

As Prime Minister, Asquith presided over a period of national upheaval, with the issues of Irish Home Rule, and womens suffrage dominating the era. Asquith also brought Britain into World War One. To maximise government support he formed a coalition government in 1915. But this government was unsuccessful and unpopular for the war was going badly. The press blamed the deadlock on the battlefields on Asquith's procrastination.

Asquith appeared sidelined when he accepted Lloyd George's suggestion that a small cabinet committee direct the war, to the exclusion of the PM himself. His subsequent change of mind led to a rift with Lloyd George which forced Asquith to resign in December 1916, on the same day as his Chancellor resigned. The success of Lloyd George's government consigned Asquith to the political wilderness, a situation compounded by the loss of his seat, and those of many of his allies in 1918. He had a very odd position as he stubbornly remained Leader of the Liberal Party, despite lacking a seat.

Two years later he won a seat in a by-election in 1920 but would not govern again. In 1925 Asquith was granted the title of Earl of Oxford and elevated to the House of Lords. He died of a stroke in 1928.