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David Lloyd GeorgePM 19161922The previous PM: Herbert Henry Asquith 1908-1916 LiberalBorn in Manchester but from Welsh origin. Although born in Manchester he was the first and onlyWelshman to hold the office of PMwas one of the twentieth centurys most-famous radicalsunconventional both in character and politics1906: President of the Board of Trade and later promoted by Asquith as ChancellorHe became a great reformer:

His Peoples Budget of 1909 was one of the most controversial of all time. It proposed a largencrease in the tax burden on the landed classes to pay for higher social spending:

- state pensions - declared a war on povertyThe Man who won the war?

- During the war, he threw himself into the job of Minister for Munitions, organising andinspiring the war efforthe resigned, as he could not reform the government machinery andthen became PM in 1916

- At the end of the war, he declared: This is no time for words. Our hearts are too full ofgratitude to which no tongue can give adequate expression.

- In 1918, the coalition government won a huge majority. This was the first election in whichwomen were allowed to vote.- His popularity started to fade, as serious allegations about selling honours were raised (titres de

noblesse).

- The conservatives broke up the coalition and Lloyd George handed in his resignation andremained a very controversial figure

- His party could not decide whether to support him or abandon him- He largely disregarded the problems facing the party and worked for himself and was largely

responsible for the partys downfall

- His major achievements:- TheEducation Act 1918raised the school leaving age to 14 and increased the powers and duties

of the Board of Education.

- TheHousing and Town Planning Act 1919provided subsidies for house building by localauthorities, and a total of 170,000 homes were built under this Act. This was a landmarkmeasure, in that it established, according to A.J.P. Taylor, "the principle that housing was a socialservice.

- TheUnemployment Insurance Act 1920extendednational insuranceto 11 million additionalworkers. This was considered to be a revolutionary measure, in that it extended unemployment

insurance to almost the entire labour force, whereas only certain categories of workers had beencovered before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Act_1918http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Act_1918http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Act_1918http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_and_Town_Planning_Act_1919http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_and_Town_Planning_Act_1919http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_and_Town_Planning_Act_1919http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment_Insurance_Act_1920http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment_Insurance_Act_1920http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment_Insurance_Act_1920http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_insurancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_insurancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_insurancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_insurancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment_Insurance_Act_1920http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_and_Town_Planning_Act_1919http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Act_1918

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Ramsay MacDonald

- Labour Politicial who served two termsthe first Labour PM (1924, lasted less than a year)- He comes from popular backgroundhe was private secretary to Thomas Lough : a radical

politicianhe started to know people involved in politics and had access to editorial offices andnewspapersMany doors became opened

- He was a member of the Fabian Society and taught at the LSE- When Keir Hardie had formed the Independent Labour Party in 1893, he applied for

membership in 1894 and was active until he became Secretary of the Labour Representation

Committee (LRC), the forerunner of the Labour Party- As a Party Secretary, he negotiated an agreement with Gladstone to allow the election of Labour

MPs, this gave Labour its first breakthrough (important advance) into the House of Commons

- In 1906, the LRC changed its name into the Labour P. And absorbed the ILP- MacDonald was elected MP for Leicester and became on the leaders of the LP- He campaigned with Keir Hardie against WW I- One of the most controversial questions was the negotiations of treaties with the Soviet Union

to protect Anglo-Soviet trade. But these treaties were popular neither with the Conservatives norwith the Liberals, causing dissolution of parliament.

- The Zinoviev letter was a turning point, why?- A letter sent from Grigory Zinoniev on October 25th, 1924, the President of the Communist

International, which stated that it was imperative that the agreed treaties between Britain and theBolsheviks be ratified urgently. The Labour members were prompted to apply pressure. Therelationship between the two countries would assist in the revolutionising of the international andBritish proletariat .... make it possible for us to extend and develop the ideas of Leninism in England and theColonies.

- The letter was revealed by the daily Mail. MacDonald believed that the letter was forgery and didnot want to make it public. But this caused a great deal of damage to his campaign. And

ultimately, Labour lost 40 seats. The Labour Party became the second most important party inBritain.

- Labour returned to power in 1929 but the Great Depression split the Labour gov.- The MacDonald government had no effective response to the economic crisis- In 1931, he formed a National government in which a majority of MPs were Conservatives and

was criticised and accused of betrayal and expelled from the Labour Party

- 19311935 remained PM (his health deteriorated during this period)- Left-wing members consider him as traitor, as he is said to betray the cause of the Labour P.