David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George (1863-1945), British prime minister (1916-1922), who led Britain through the latter part of World War I and the early postwar years.

Born of Welsh parents on January 17, 1863, in Manchester, England, Lloyd George was raised in Caernarvonshire, Wales, and was educated in law as an apprentice in a law firm. From the start of his legal career, Lloyd George was active in local Welsh politics; in 1890 he was elected to Parliament. He was radical in his social views, and supported Welsh nationalism while opposing the war against the Boers in South Africa. In 1905 he was appointed to the cabinet position of president of the Board of Trade with the newly elected Liberal government, and in 1908 he was made chancellor of the Exchequer. The budget he submitted in 1909 contained numerous appropriations for social legislation benefiting the workers, and it met with vigorous opposition from the Conservatives and from the House of Lords, which voted it down. In a speech made in the Limehouse parish of London in 1909, Lloyd George defended his budget and abused his opposition so vociferously that the term limehouse has remained in the English language as a synonym for denunciation of one's political opponents. Shortly thereafter the House of Lords was forbidden by law to consider finance bills, and many of Lloyd George's reforms were adopted, including national sickness and invalidity insurance and unemployment insurance.

At the beginning of World War I, Lloyd George, as chancellor of the Exchequer, secured Britain's credit and placed the country in a financial position strong enough to endure the war. In 1915 he was appointed to the newly created ministry of munitions, and in 1916 he was made secretary of state for war. He proposed limiting the war cabinet to a smaller, more efficient membership, headed not by the prime minister but by someone concentrating solely on the problems of war. The Liberal prime minister Herbert H. Asquith resigned, and Lloyd George became prime minister of a coalition government. He reduced the policymaking cabinet from 20 to 5 members and worked for a unified Allied command. After the armistice, he participated in the peace conference and helped frame the Treaty of Versailles. In 1920 he introduced the Home Rule Bill for Ireland; largely through his efforts the Irish state was established. The Conservatives withdrew from his coalition government in 1922 in protest against Irish home rule and support by Britain of Greece against Turkey; Lloyd George resigned, and a general election was called in which the Conservatives were elected to power. Lloyd George was reelected to Parliament from his borough and was leader of the opposition until 1931. He was made an earl shortly before his death on March 26, 1945.

Among Lloyd George's works are Where Are We Going? (1923), Slings and Arrows (1929), and The Truth About the Peace Treaty (1938).