Liberal
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...
formed a coalition government in the United Kingdom in December 1916, and was appointed
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
by
King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
. It replaced the
earlier wartime coalition under
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...
, which had been held responsible for losses during the
Great War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Those
Liberals who continued to support Asquith served as the
Official Opposition. The government continued in power after the end of the war in 1918, though Lloyd George was increasingly reliant on the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
s for support. After several scandals including allegations of the sale of
honours
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
, the Conservatives withdrew their support after a
meeting at the
Carlton Club
The Carlton Club is a private members' club in St James's, London. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and election only.
History
The ...
in 1922, and
Bonar Law formed a government.
Cabinets
War Cabinet, December 1916 – January 1919
![The Times history of the war (1914) (14577979888)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/The_Times_history_of_the_war_%281914%29_%2814577979888%29.jpg)
*
Lord Curzon of Kedleston –
Lord President of the Council and
Leader of the House of Lords
The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the majority party in the House of Lords who acts as ...
*
Bonar Law –
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
and
Leader of the House of Commons
The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of t ...
*
Arthur Henderson
Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of th ...
–
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...
*
Lord Milner
Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, (23 March 1854 – 13 May 1925) was a British statesman and colonial administrator who played a role in the formulation of British foreign and domestic policy between the mid-1890s and early 1920s. From ...
– Minister without Portfolio
Changes
![Imperial war cabinet 1917](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Imperial_war_cabinet_1917.jpg)
* May – August 1917 – In temporary absence of Arthur Henderson,
George Barnes,
Minister of Pensions acts as a member of the War Cabinet.
* June 1917 –
Jan Smuts
Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Af ...
enters the War Cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio
* July 1917 –
Sir Edward Carson
Edward Henry Carson, 1st Baron Carson, PC, PC (Ire) (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician, barrister and judge, who served as the Attorney General and Solicitor ...
enters the War Cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio
* August 1917 – George Barnes succeeds Arthur Henderson (resigned) as Minister without Portfolio and
Labour Party member of the War Cabinet.
* January 1918 – Carson resigns and is not replaced
* April 1918 –
Austen Chamberlain
Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain (16 October 1863 – 16 March 1937) was a British statesman, son of Joseph Chamberlain and older half-brother of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer (twice) and was briefly ...
succeeds Lord Milner as Minister without Portfolio.
* January 1919 – Law becomes
Lord Privy Seal, remaining Leader of the House of Commons, and is succeeded as Chancellor of the Exchequer by Chamberlain; both remaining in the War Cabinet. Smuts is succeeded by
Sir Eric Geddes
Sir Eric Campbell Geddes (26 September 1875 – 22 June 1937) was a British businessman and Conservative politician. With a background in railways, he served as head of Military Transportation on the Western Front, with the rank of major-ge ...
as Minister without Portfolio.
Peacetime Cabinet, January 1919 – October 1922
*
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...
–
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
*
Lord Birkenhead –
Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
*
Lord Curzon of Kedleston –
Lord President of the Council and
Leader of the House of Lords
The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the majority party in the House of Lords who acts as ...
*
Bonar Law –
Lord Privy Seal and
Leader of the House of Commons
The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of t ...
*
Austen Chamberlain
Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain (16 October 1863 – 16 March 1937) was a British statesman, son of Joseph Chamberlain and older half-brother of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer (twice) and was briefly ...
–
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
*
Edward Shortt
Edward Shortt, KC (10 March 1862 – 10 November 1935) was a British lawyer and Liberal Party politician. He served as a member of David Lloyd George's cabinet, most significantly as Home Secretary from 1919 to 1922.
Background and educatio ...
–
Secretary of State for the Home Department
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
*
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As F ...
–
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
*
Lord Milner
Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, (23 March 1854 – 13 May 1925) was a British statesman and colonial administrator who played a role in the formulation of British foreign and domestic policy between the mid-1890s and early 1920s. From ...
–
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, British Cabinet government minister, minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various British Empire, colonial dependencies.
Histor ...
*
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
–
Secretary of State for War and
Air
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...
*
Edwin Montagu
Edwin Samuel Montagu PC (6 February 1879 – 15 November 1924) was a British Liberal politician who served as Secretary of State for India between 1917 and 1922. Montagu was a "radical" Liberal and the third practising Jew (after Sir Herber ...
–
Secretary of State for India
His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...
*
Walter Long –
First Lord of the Admiralty
The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
*
Sir Albert Stanley –
President of the Board of Trade
The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. This is a committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centu ...
*
Robert Munro –
Secretary for Scotland
*
Ian Macpherson –
Chief Secretary for Ireland
*
Lord French –
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the King ...
*
Christopher Addison –
President of the Local Government Board The President of the Local Government Board was a ministerial post, frequently a Cabinet position, in the United Kingdom, established in 1871. The Local Government Board itself was established in 1871 and took over supervisory functions from the ...
*
Rowland Prothero –
President of the Board of Agriculture
*
H. A. L. Fisher
Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher H.A.L. Fisher: ''A History of Europe, Volume II: From the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century to 1935'', Glasgow: Fontana/Collins, 1984, p. i. (21 March 1865 – 18 April 1940) was an English historian, educator, a ...
–
President of the Board of Education
The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...
*
Lord Inverforth –
Minister of Munitions
The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis o ...
*
Sir Robert Horne –
Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...
*
George Barnes –
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...
*
Sir Eric Geddes
Sir Eric Campbell Geddes (26 September 1875 – 22 June 1937) was a British businessman and Conservative politician. With a background in railways, he served as head of Military Transportation on the Western Front, with the rank of major-ge ...
– Minister without Portfolio
Changes
* May 1919 – Sir
Auckland Geddes
Auckland Campbell Geddes, 1st Baron Geddes, (21 June 1879 – 8 June 1954) was a British academic, soldier, politician and diplomat. He was a member of David Lloyd George's coalition government during the First World War and also served as Am ...
succeeds Sir Albert Stanley as President of the Board of Trade. Sir Eric Geddes becomes Minister of Transport.
* October 1919 – Lord Curzon of Kedleston succeeds Balfour as Foreign Secretary. Balfour succeeds Curzon as Lord President. The Local Government Board is abolished. Christopher Addison becomes Minister of Health. The Board of Agriculture is abolished.
Lord Lee of Fareham
Arthur Hamilton Lee, 1st Viscount Lee of Fareham, (8 November 1868 – 21 July 1947), was an English soldier, diplomat, politician, philanthropist and patron of the arts. After military postings and an assignment to the British Embassy in Was ...
becomes Minister of Agriculture. Sir Eric Geddes becomes Minister of Transport.
* January 1920 – George Barnes leaves the cabinet.
* March 1920 – Sir Robert Horne succeeds Sir Auckland Geddes as President of the Board of Trade.
Thomas James McNamara succeeds Horne as Minister of Labour.
* April 1920 – Sir
Hamar Greenwood succeeds Ian Macpherson as Chief Secretary for Ireland. Sir
Laming Worthington-Evans
Sir Worthington Laming Worthington-Evans, 1st Baronet, (23 August 1868 – 14 February 1931) was a British Conservative politician.
Background and education
Born Laming Evans, he was the son of Worthington Evans and Susanah Laming. He assumed t ...
joins the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio.
* February 1921 – Winston Churchill succeeds Lord Milner as Colonial Secretary. Sir Laming Worthington-Evans succeeds Churchill as War Secretary. Churchill's successor as Air Secretary was not in the Cabinet. Lord Lee of Fareham succeeds Walter Long at the Admiralty.
Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen succeeds Lee as Minister of Agriculture.
* March 1921 – Austen Chamberlain succeeds Bonar Law as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the Commons. Sir Robert Horne succeeds Chamberlain at the Exchequer.
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...
succeeds Horne at the Board of Trade.
* April 1921 – Lord French resigns from the cabinet, remaining Lord Lieutenant. Christopher Addison becomes a Minister without Portfolio. Sir
Alfred Mond succeeds him as Minister of Health. The Ministry of Munitions is abolished.
* November 1921 – Sir Eric Geddes resigns from the cabinet. His successor as Minister of Transport is not in the Cabinet. The Attorney General, Sir
Gordon Hewart
Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart, (7 January 1870 – 5 May 1943) was a politician and judge in the United Kingdom.
Background and education
Hewart was born in Bury, Lancashire, the eldest son of Giles Hewart, a draper, and Annie Elizabeth J ...
, enters the Cabinet.
* March 1922 –
Lord Peel succeeds Edwin Montagu as India Secretary.
* April 1922 – The First Commissioner of Works,
Lord Crawford, enters the Cabinet.
List of ministers
Members of the Cabinet are listed in boldface. Members of the War Cabinet, 6 December 1916 to 31 October 1919, are indicated.
References
Further reading
* Burk. K. M. ed. ''War and the State: The Transformation of British Government 1914–1918 (1982).
* Burk. K. M. ''Britain, America and the Sinews of War 1914–1918'' (1985).
* Butler, David, and G. Butler, ''Twentieth Century British Political Facts'' (Macmillan, 2000).
* Cassar, George H. ''Lloyd George at War, 1916–1918'' (2009
full text online at JSTORexcerpts* French, David. ''The Strategy of the Lloyd George Coalition, 1916–1918'' (1995)
* Fry, Michael. "Political Change in Britain, August 1914 to December 1916: Lloyd George Replaces Asquith: The Issues Underlying the Drama." ''Historical Journal'' 31.03 (1988): 609–627.
* Gardner, Lloyd C. ''Safe for Democracy: The Anglo-American Response to Revolution, 1913-1923'' (1987) diplomatic history
* Grieves, Keith. ''The politics of manpower, 1914–18'' (Manchester UP, 1988).
* Grigg, John. ''Lloyd George: From Peace to War 1912–1916'' (1985)
* Grigg, John. ''Lloyd George: War Leader 1916–1918'' (2002).
* Keohane, Nigel. ''The party of patriotism: the Conservative Party and the First World War'' (Routledge, 2016).
* McEwen, John M. "The Struggle for Mastery in Britain: Lloyd George versus Asquith, December 1916." ''Journal of British Studies'' 18#1 (1978): 131–156.
*
Morgan, Kenneth O. ''Consensus and disunity: the Lloyd George coalition government, 1918–1922'' (1979)
* Morgan, Kenneth O. "Lloyd George's Premiership: A Study in 'Prime Ministerial Government'." ''Historical Journal'' 13#1 (1970): 130-57
online
* Morgan, Kenneth O. "George, David Lloyd, first Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (1863–1945)" ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 201
accessed 11 Feb 2017 doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34570
* Paxman, Jeremy. ''Great Britain's Great War'' (2013), based on TV series.
* Simmonds, Alan G.V. ''Britain and World War One'' (Routledge, 2013).
* Somervell, D.C. ''The Reign of King George V,'' (1936) pp 161–306
online free* Taylor, A.J.P. ''English History: 1914–1945'' (1965), pp 66–128
* Wrigley, Chris. ''Lloyd George and the Challenge of Labour: The Post-War Coalition 1918–1922'' (1990).
Primary sources
* Lloyd George, David. ''War Memoirs'' (6 vols. 1933–36).
** Egerton, George W. "The Lloyd George 'War Memoirs': A Study in the Politics of Memory." ''Journal of Modern History'' 60#1 (1988): 55–94
in JSTOR*
Stubbs, John O. "Beaverbrook As Historian: 'Politicians and the War, 1914–1916' Reconsidered." ''Albion'' 14#3 (1982): 235–253.
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Ministry may refer to:
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* Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister
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