Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DAVID LLOYD GEORGE (1863-1945)
David Lloyd George began his career as the champion of Welsh populist democracy and a critic of society and its
institutions. A talented and witty orator, in 1890 he won his first seat as Liberal MP for Caernarfon Boroughs and,
at 27, became the youngest member of the House of Commons.
As Chancellor of the Exchequer he launched a broad but controversial agenda of social reform, including the
introduction of old-age pensions, a 1909 budget that taxed the wealthy to fund services for the poor, and the 1911
National Insurance Act to provide health and unemployment insurance. Elected prime minister in 1916 after a di-
visive alliance with the Conservatives, Lloyd George went on to become an energetic war leader. He excelled at a
time when strong leadership was needed, dismissing red tape and forcing his opinion when necessary.
Postwar industrial unrest and economic reconstruction dogged the country, however, and he eventually agreed
to Irish independence to end civil war, a solution the Conservative alliance never forgave. Accusations of corrup-
tion, financial greed and the selling of honours began to ruin his reputation. Radicals, Welsh nationalists and cam-
paigners for women's rights all felt betrayed. In 1922 the Conservatives staged a party revolt and broke up the
shaky coalition. Lloyd George resigned immediately.
His popularity faded, the Liberal Party was in disarray, political allies had abandoned him, and both the Welsh
and the British working class felt thoroughly deceived. Lloyd George's political career had reached a sad anticli-
max.
He died in 1945 at Llanystumdwy, where there is now a small museum devoted to his life.
