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David Lloyd George (1863-1945)British prime minister. Born in Manchester on 17 January 1863, he was brought up in Wales by an uncle after the early death of his father. He became a solicitor in 1884 and got involved in local politics. He spoke Welsh among his family and encouraged that country's cultural revival. After being elected a Liberal MP for Caernarfon Boroughs in 1890, Lloyd George used his considerable oratorical skills to oppose the Boer War of 1899-1902. He was appointed president of the Board of Trade in 1905 and chancellor of the Exchequer in 1908. His innovative 1909 'People's Budget' introduced old-age pensions and raised taxes. Attacked by Conservative peers in the hereditary House of Lords, he responded by denouncing their privileges as undemocratic. In 1911, the Liberal government curbed the powers of the Lords. In that year, Lloyd George also brought in the National Insurance Act, which created a scheme for insurance against sickness. When World War I started, he energetically headed the Ministry of Munitions in 1915 and took over as prime minister of a coalition government in 1916. His vigorous leadership helped Britain recover from near defeat and helped Lloyd George himself to achieve great personal prestige. After leading the moderate British delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference at the end of the war, he returned home to deal with the Irish crisis. In 1921, he successfully created a compromise in which southern Ireland was granted some independence while the north remained British. Although Lloyd George worked well with the Conservatives in the coalition during and immediately after the war, his partners soon resented his arrogance, and he was forced to resign in October 1922. Because of his political manoeuvring, the Liberal party split, and its status as the second largest party in Britain was taken by Labour. Although Lloyd George became leader of the party again in 1926, even his inventiveness was unable to revive the party's fortunes. However, he remained a member of Parliament for virtually the rest of his life. During World War II, he refused to serve in Winston Churchill's coalition. He died on 26 March 1945, having been created an earl two months previously. |
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