Lloyd-George (of Dwyfor), David Lloyd George, 1st Earl 1863-1945
Welsh Liberal statesman

He was born in Manchester of Welsh parentage. At the age of two when his father died, his family were taken to Llanystumdwy, near Criccieth, Wales, the home of his uncle Richard Lloyd who recognized the latent brilliance in the young Lloyd George, and took responsibility for his education. Lloyd George thus acquired his religion, his industry, his vivid oratory, his radical views and his Welsh nationalism. He became a solicitor and in 1890 was elected as an advanced Liberal for Caernarvon Boroughs. From 1905 to 1908 he was president of the Board of Trade and was responsible for the passing of three important Acts - the Merchant Shipping Act and the Census Production Act (1906), and the Patents Act (1907). As Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1908 to 1915, he reached the heights as a social reformer with his Old Age Pensions Act (1908), the National Insurance Act (1911), and the momentous 'people's budget' of 1909-10, whose rejection by the Lords led to constitutional crisis and the Parliament Act of 1911 which removed the Lords' power of veto. Although a pacifist, he strongly believed in the national rights of a smaller country and saw the parallel between the Welsh and the Boers. His condemnation of the Boer War had been loud and the threat of invasion of Belgium by Germany in 1914 dispelled all pacifist tendencies. In 1915 he was appointed Minister of Munitions, in 1916 became War Secretary and superseded H H Asquith as coalition Prime Minister (1916-22). By his forceful policy he was, as Hitler later said of him, 'the man who won the war'. He was one of the 'big three' at the peace negotiations, which he handled brilliantly although he was inclined to pay too much attention to the demands of the small countries. This later, as with Greece, led Great Britain into difficulties. At home there was a split in the Liberal Party which never completely healed. In 1921 he negotiated with Sinn F�in and conceded the Irish Free State. This was very unpopular with the Conservatives in the government and led to his downfall and the downfall of the Liberals as a party at the 1922 election. Following the 1931 general election he resigned as leader of the party and led a group of Independent Liberal MPs. He retained his seat until the year of his death, in which year he was made an earl. He wrote his War Memoirs (1933-36) and The Truth about the Peace Treaties (1938).

Bibliography: Thomas Jones, Lloyd George (1951)