Lloyd George

The 20 Prime Ministers of the 20th Century
By Hugh Purcell

David Lloyd George (1863-1945, Earl Lloyd George 1945) Liberal politician, Prime Minister 1916-22.
By the end of 1916 there was discontent with Asquith's management of the war, and Lloyd George schemed secretly with the Conservatives in the coalition government to take his place as Prime Minister.
The main post-war issue was Ireland, where Lloyd George brought to a partial end the long-running problem of Home Rule by giving independence in 1921 to the Irish Free State.
Conservative discontent with the Coalition came to a head at a famous meeting at the Carlton Club in 1922, and there was an easy Conservative victory in that year's election. Lloyd George never again held office.



Hugh Purcell worked for many years producing history programmes for BBC Radio and Television. Prominent among them were 'The Roads to War', the obituary of Oswald Mosley and the BAFTA-winning 'American Civil War'. His previous books include Fascism, The Spanish Civil War, Revolutionary War and a biography of Tom Wintringham, The Last English Revolutionary. He is Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and an FRSA.