public relations. He cultivated a presidential style, which no Prime Reports Minister had done previously. For some, this style, and his close- ness to some newspapers, was too much. Members of the cabinet were David Lloyd George: The Legacy reportedly particularly upset at Conference fringe meeting, 9 March 2013, with having to meet in Inverness Town Hall in order to accommodate Kenneth O. Morgan and David Howarth; chair: Lloyd George’s holiday. Celia, Baroness Thomas Lord Morgan also noted that Lloyd George was the first Prime Report by David Cloke Minister to write his memoirs, and to make significant amounts n the 150th anniversary of his democracy into British parliamen- of money as a result. This may also birth, in a joint meeting with tary politics more powerfully and be a reflection of the fact that he Ithe Lloyd George Society at the with more lasting effect that any- was the first Prime Minister not to spring 2013 Liberal Democrat con- one before him, including Joseph come from a financially privileged ference, representatives and Group Chamberlain. He used the force background. members were invited to consider of populism (notably in the Lime- the legacy of David Lloyd George – house and Newcastle speeches in not just for Liberalism, and for the 1909) and the power of the media Party party, but for the country as a whole. to get things done. This was most Lord Morgan acknowledged that Baroness Thomas opened the notable in the confrontations with Lloyd George had divided his party meeting with a vignette which the Lords over the 1909 People’s in 1918, but in his view this was a highlighted the extent to which Budget and the subsequent Parlia- reflection of what had happened Lloyd George has played such an ment Act. Lord Morgan did not during the war. Nonetheless, the integral part in the lives of Brit- believe that Lloyd George intended split between the pro- and anti- ish Liberals. Her family owned a the Lords to throw out the budget government Liberals had been very postcard of a great Welsh disestab- but he was quite prepared to face rough and ready and there were a lishment rally, with Lloyd George them down if they did. Quite number of casualties in the process. wagging his finger at the audi- extraordinarily, he had urged his This in turn led to the division of ence; up in the organ loft was her cabinet colleagues to spend as much the party and serious consequences grandfather. they could in order to build the case for all Liberals. It was interesting Lord Morgan, introduced as the for land duties. He wondered to the to note that two of Lloyd George’s world’s greatest expert on Lloyd audience – and to Lord McNally in great heroes had been Joseph George, was called upon to reflect particular – whether a member of Chamberlain, who himself had upon LG’s legacy to the country. any other cabinet had had a similar split the Liberal Party, and Theo- David Howarth, former Liberal experience! dore Roosevelt, who broke from Democrat MP for Cambridge, con- In his campaigning for the Par- the US Republican Party to form fined his remarks to the impact that liament Act Lloyd George indulged Lloyd George the Progressives. Lloyd George had on his party and in what Lord Morgan described as The resulting peacetime coali- the lessons from that for the Liberal democratic confrontation, despite was clearly, tion (on which, incidentally, Lord Democrats. It would be fair to say the opposition of the King, the Morgan believed he had written that one presentation was rather Archbishop of Canterbury and in Lord Mor- his best book) had achievements at more positive than the other! other members of the Establish- first, especially in the area of social Lord Morgan recalled that when ment. Interestingly, given later gan’s eyes, reform. It created a different kind he had spoken on behalf of Lloyd developments in Liberal policy, of politics, at least for a time, and George at the Group’s 2007 fringe fearing a Conservative major- the first one much reflected on since the 2010 meeting on the greatest Liberal, he ity Lloyd George did not want an general election. However, Lloyd had lost out to John Stuart Mill. He elected House of Lords, but rather modern George’s coalition was inherently wondered whether, now that the an enfeebled one so, that the elected unstable; coupled with the smell of Liberal Democrats were in govern- House would always prevail. Prime Min- corruption and conspiracy, exem- ment, members might look more plified by the scandal over the sale favourably upon him! ister, creat- of titles, this meant that one of his He considered first Lloyd Premiership ing, as he legacies was to make coalitions George’s legacy to the country. Lloyd George was clearly, in Lord inherently unpopular. (As an aside, Three Ps stood out: Parliament, pre- Morgan’s eyes, the first modern did, so many Lord Morgan noted that the atmos- miership and party. On all of these, Prime Minister, creating, as he did, phere of the Lloyd George coalition Lord Morgan claimed, Lloyd George so many of the institutions of the of the insti- government had been well caught in had a quite extraordinary impact. modern premiership: the Cabi- Arnold Bennett’s novel Lord Raingo.) net Office, special advisers (in the tutions of In addition to splitting the Lib- famous ‘Garden Suburb’ in the gar- eral Party and discrediting coali- Parliament den of Number 10) and personal the modern tion government, Lloyd George For Lord Morgan Lloyd George handling of foreign policy, indus- enabled the Labour Party to brought the force of mass trial disputes and the government’s premiership. become the majority party of the

Journal of Liberal History 79 Summer 2013 23 report: david lloyd george – the legacy left. Lord Morgan recalled George widening of the scope of unem- During the inter-war years Bernard Shaw’s advice to the ployment insurance. Lord Morgan Lloyd George was the major politi- Labour Party conference in 1918: noted that Lloyd George was often cal proponent of Keynesianism ‘go back to Lloyd George and say accused of pursuing the low road, and, indeed, anticipated him in “nothing doing”’ – very sound but many of the great minds of pub- the 1924 and 1925 Liberal Summer advice, in Lord Morgan’s view. lic life had worked closely with him Schools. The slogan ‘We can con- Lord Morgan then turned to in pursuing this agenda. quer unemployment’ demonstrated some general reflections on the Whilst Lloyd George’s jingo- a leader who was not paralysed by broad cultural changes initiated ism and militarism during the First the idea of debt but believed that by Lloyd George, which had had World War meant that it was not depression could be counteracted a very direct, powerful and long- Lord Morgan’s favourite part of his by promoting growth, investment lasting impact, down to the present career, it demonstrated that he was and employment. It was a posi- time. First, Lloyd George helped to an extraordinary leader. In con- tive characteristic of both Keynes make Wales a political reality. He trast to Churchill, he succeeded and Lloyd George, Lord Morgan had not been alone in this – Lord despite not having full control of argued during questions, that their Morgan acknowledged that there the House of Commons and despite ideas evolved. had been others who were influen- the Generals playing politics and In summing up Lord Morgan tial, notably Tom Ellis – but Lloyd conniving with the Court. The war argued that Lloyd George’s adop- George, through disestablishment made the state much more power- tion of new ideas and desire to and through tackling the power ful in social, economic and cultural move forward was a positive con- of the Welsh gentry, made Wales a spheres and this too was part of trast with the other great British more democratic nation, increas- Lloyd George’s legacy – includ- war leader, Winston Churchill. The ingly confident of its own capacity. ing votes for women, which he had appeal of Churchill was a nostalgic Cymru Fydd (Young Wales or Wales always supported, and a strength- one and he himself fought to main- of the Future), which he helped ened role for trades unions. tain an outmoded class system and lead, clearly anticipated devolution. This concern In foreign affairs, Lord Mor- a fading Empire. By contrast, Lloyd In elaborating during questions, gan acknowledged that Lloyd George was a critic of the class sys- Lord Morgan added that the con- for social George has been much-criticised tem, of the Establishment and of cept of home rule was a fluid one, for the part he played in the crea- conventional wisdom: ‘a critic who but he was confident that it meant reform did tion of the post-war world and the changed his world’. As depicted something like the devolution of entrenchment of the principle of in his statue in Parliament Square, our own day. It was something that not end in nationality that we still have today. Lloyd George points the way for- Lloyd George wished for other Beyond Europe, two of his crea- ward. And as Lloyd George him- countries of the Empire, not just 1914. The tions, Palestine and Iraq, caused self said of Abraham Lincoln at the Wales, and had seen implemented 1918 coali- serious problems which proved to unveiling of his statue, also in Par- in South Africa in the aftermath of be mishandled by successive gov- liament Square, ‘he lost his nation- the Boer War. Lord Morgan also tion began ernments. Nevertheless, he was, as ality in death … truly he belongs to argued that it was inconceivable Keynes recognised, the one ‘peace- the ages’. that Wales would break away and with a very maker’ who sought to revise the Lady Thomas then turned to in that there was a distinction with Versailles settlement, though this former Cambridge MP and now Ireland. strong social sometimes drifted into appease- the Director of the MPhil in Public No other politician, Lord Mor- ment. By the very end of the Policy at the University of Cam- gan argued, could make a stronger programme: inter-war period, however, he had bridge, David Howarth, for his claim as the founder of the wel- become a powerful and brilliant thoughts on Lloyd George’s legacy fare state. Lloyd George laid the subsidised critic of appeasement and assisted and lessons for the party. basis for it in the 1909 Budget (and Churchill in becoming Prime Howarth prefaced his remarks later in 1914) using a redistribu- public hous- Minister. by noting that he could not match tive, progressive budget to fund Lord Morgan also argued that Lord Morgan’s depth of knowl- welfare, create employment and ing, started Lloyd George had a very special edge of Lloyd George and that he assist children. This was followed insight into Ireland. As a Welshman was merely giving the views of by the National Insurance Act of under his he had a sense of what it meant to be a retired politician and current 1911, creating a comprehensive sys- under the heel of the English, and as social scientist. He also noted that tem of universal benefits and a new minister a Nonconformist he appreciated the he was probably going to give a concept of ‘social citizenship’. All outlook of the Protestants of Ulster. more negative judgement than this was drawn on by Beveridge Christopher Despite that, he was responsible for Lord Morgan. He then outlined in his later report. An extraordi- Addison, and the very dark phase in Anglo-Irish an aspect of Lloyd George’s char- nary achievement, Lord Morgan history, the shameful exploits of the acter that made the whole exercise believed, accomplished without the widening ‘black and tans’. However, he had a problematic. As Lord Riddell, one much help from others in the cabi- reverse gear; he changed the policy of the great diarists of early twen- net, apart from Asquith. of the scope and created a settlement that has tieth century had observed, Lloyd This concern for social reform broadly lasted – a major achieve- George ‘is the only person I know did not end in 1914. The 1918 coa- of unem- ment for these islands, in Lord who is not obsessed with ghosts’. lition began with a very strong Morgan’s view. A consequential As Lord Morgan had said, Lloyd social programme: subsidised pub- ployment legacy of this time, however, was George looked forward; there lic housing, started under his min- that the Irish Catholic vote went to was thus something of a paradox ister Christopher Addison, and the insurance. the Labour Party. in worrying about the ghost of

24 Journal of Liberal History 79 Summer 2013 report: david lloyd george – the legacy someone who did not worry about began negotiating for an electoral According to of the Conservative Party with them himself. pact with the Tories very early on, the collectivist wing of the Liber- For Howarth the place to start with a view to putting forward a Howarth the als. Despite expending a great deal was to try and look for a parallel joint programme. Howarth sug- of time on this project it fell apart, figure in more recent history, and gested that the Maurice debate of lessons for but one consequence of it, however, for him that was Tony Blair. Both May 1918 gave Lloyd George the was that it made reunification of men proved to be enormously dis- justification he required; in that the Liberal the Liberal Party in 1923 extremely ruptive figures in their respective debate Asquith had led his official difficult. parties; both were dynamic, with Liberals into the lobbies against Democrats, Howarth also noted that when frequent eye-catching initiatives; the government over the allega- Lloyd George decided to start his both indulged in tactical manoeu- tion, made in the press by a senior therefore, own party it had no activists. The vres of dazzling rapidity; both army officer, that it had starved were: don’t Liberal Party locally had not split. were, in their different ways, bril- the Western Front of resources in He had money and access to new liant orators and able to come to order to use them in the Mediter- pursue a ideas, but the painful truth is that terms with the media of their day; ranean, and had misled Parlia- the breakthroughs mentioned by and both, some might allege, did ment over it. This meant that Lloyd centre vote Lord Morgan did not lead to elec- not always have the highest stand- George was able to argue (to him- toral success. Why was that, How- ards of honesty. self at the very least) that the Lib- that does arth asked? In his view it was very They were also both obsessed erals that had voted against him clear that the events of 1918–22 had with big business, and admired could not be trusted with post-war not exist, alienated too many of the troops businessmen; Lloyd George, for reconstruction. on the ground; they wandered example, once said that Leverhulme This argument did not stand and don’t away. It was noticed at the time that was worth ten thousand sea cap- up to much scrutiny, however, as Labour campaigns in constituencies tains. In Howarth’s view, bringing Howarth pointed out that the list alienate the were being run by previous Liberal men like Sir Eric Geddes into his of MPs that voted against the gov- activists. Labour did not just cap- government was a sign of his exces- ernment and the list of those who party. ture Liberal Party intellectuals, it sive admiration of the dynamism of received the coalition ‘coupon’ in gained its local base as well. big business. There was also a link the 1918 election were not mutually According to Howarth the les- with Lloyd George’s cultivation of exclusive. In addition, some who sons for the Liberal Democrats, Keynes. Similarly, Tony Blair was had supported him were abandoned therefore, were: don’t pursue a cen- keen on bringing in new theorists because they were in the wrong tre vote that does not exist, and and new ideas, though he often sub- seats, which left a very bad taste. don’t alienate the party. sequently fell out with them. Lloyd George’s attitude to In answering the questions that Possibly connected to these his fellow Liberal MPs was also followed, the speakers were able to strands was a similar attitude to reflected in the speech he gave on provide some further illumination ‘big-tent politics’: that one person 12 November 1918, to which he on the points that each of them had could rise above party, could be had invited all Liberal MPs. In it made. Regarding the split in the bigger than their party and could he claimed that he would be a Lib- Liberal Party, Lord Morgan argued reconstruct politics around their eral until he died, and would never that the big division occurred before own personality. They were also abandon the party. He then went Lloyd George became Prime Minis- both uninterested in history, which through a list of measures impor- ter, over conscription, and that this had significant consequences for tant to Liberals and argued that the reflected the unhappiness of many what they did. The big difference coalition should continue; a motion Liberals over the war. He did not between them was that Blair did was then passed in support. At the agree, however, that Lloyd George not split his party – which, How- same time, however, he was nego- shared responsibility for dragging arth contended, gives us a glimpse tiating a joint programme with the the country into an unnecessary at how divisive a figure Lloyd Tory leader Bonar Law, including a war. He did not think that doing George was. loosely disguised form of Imperial nothing was an option, and having To highlight this, Howarth Preference. decided to go to war Lloyd George turned to the 1918 general election A combination of puzzlement at argued that the government should and its consequences. He began by the joint programme and the use of exercise the full power of the state saying that he did not believe that the coupon caused deep resentment to win it. Lloyd George felt that the 1918–22 government marked throughout the 1920s and beyond. many Liberal critics of the war only the end of Liberal England; that Indeed, Howarth had personal half wanted to win it. occurred in the 1930s, when the connections with people who had On the Maurice debate Lord party split three or even four ways. known Asquith – they hated Lloyd Morgan argued that it had been a Nonetheless, what happened in this George. major mistake by Asquith and that period did represent a serious weak- Howarth believed that Lloyd if Lloyd George had lost it the war ening of the party, which meant George had a peculiar notion as to would have been run by the army that it was less able to survive what his friends were. He had an ambi- and not the civil power. Howarth happened in the 1930s. tious plan to form a ‘fusion party’ agreed with him on the substance In Howarth’s view, Lloyd with the Conservatives. Strangely of the debate. His difficulty was George’s manoeuvres in 1918 it was not an alliance of moderates with how Lloyd George gone about were utterly disgraceful. Hav- but of extremists; Howarth won- winning it – a dilemma that contin- ing decided that the Liberal Party dered whether it was an attempt to ues to trouble Liberals in the pre- was dead the Coalition Liberals reunite the Chamberlainite wing sent day.

Journal of Liberal History 79 Summer 2013 25