The Asquith coalition ministry was the Government of the United Kingdom under the Liberal prime minister H. H. Asquith from May 1915 to December 1916. It was formed as a multi-party war-time coalition nine months after the beginning of the First World War but collapsed when the Conservative Party withdrew.
History
The new Cabinet included nine Conservatives and one Labour minister, but the Liberals continued to hold most of the important posts; the Conservatives had demanded Cabinet seats, but they only received lesser positions. Not at all satisfied, Conservative Party leader Bonar Law continued the verbal attacks.
The ministry collapsed on 5 December 1916 as a result of Conservative resignations, who refused to serve under Asquith's leadership. Asquith and most of the Liberals then moved into opposition, while the Conservatives formed a new coalition with a minority of Liberals, under the leadership of Liberal David Lloyd George, the next day.
Cabinet
List of ministers
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
! class=unsortable|Office
! class=unsortable|Name
! Date
! colspan=2|Party
|-
|
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |H. H. Asquith
|
|
|-
|Chancellor of the Exchequer
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Reginald McKenna
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|
! scope=row|John Gulland
|
|
|-
! scope=row|Lord Edmund Talbot
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Financial Secretary to the Treasury
! scope=row|Edwin Montagu
|
|
|-
! scope=row|Thomas McKinnon Wood
|
|
|-
|rowspan=4|Junior Lords of the Treasury
! scope=row|Geoffrey Howard
|
|
|-
! scope=row|George Roberts
|
|
|-
! scope=row|William Bridgeman
|
|
|-
! scope=row|Walter Rea
|
|
|-
|Lord Chancellor
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Stanley Buckmaster, 1st Viscount Buckmaster
|
|
|-
|
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe
|
|
|-
|Lord Privy Seal
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |George Curzon, 1st Earl Curzon of Kedleston
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Secretary of State for the Home Department
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Sir John Simon
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Herbert Samuel
|
|
|-
|Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
! scope=row|William Brace
|
|
|-
|Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Sir Edward Grey, 3rd Baronet
|
|
|-
|Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
! scope=row|Lord Robert Cecil
|
|
|-
|Secretary of State for the Colonies
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Bonar Law
|
|
|-
|Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
! scope=row|Arthur Steel-Maitland
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Secretary of State for War
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |David Lloyd George
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Under-Secretary of State for War
! scope=row|Harold Tennant
|
|
|-
! scope=row|Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby
|
|
|-
|Financial Secretary to the War Office
! scope=row|Henry Forster
|
|
|-
|Secretary of State for India
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Austen Chamberlain
|
|
|-
|Under-Secretary of State for India
! scope=row|John Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington
|
|
|-
|First Lord of the Admiralty
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Arthur Balfour
|
|
|-
|Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty
! scope=row|Thomas Macnamara
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Civil Lord of the Admiralty
! scope=row|Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire
|
|
|-
! scope=row|Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |David Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford
|
|
|-
|Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
! scope=row|Francis Dyke Acland
|
|
|-
|Minister of Blockade
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Lord Robert Cecil
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|President of the Board of Education
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Arthur Henderson
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe
|
|
|-
|Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education
! scope=row|Herbert Lewis
|
|
|-
|President of the Local Government Board
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Walter Long
|
|
|-
|Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board
! scope=row|William Hayes Fisher
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Chief Secretary for Ireland
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Augustine Birrell
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Henry Duke
|
|
|-
|Vice President of the Department of Agriculture for Ireland
! scope=row|Thomas Russell
|
|
|-
|rowspan=4|Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Winston Churchill
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Herbert Samuel
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Edwin Montagu
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Thomas McKinnon Wood
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Minister of Munitions
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |David Lloyd George
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Edwin Montagu
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions
! scope=row|Christopher Addison
|
|
|-
! scope=row|Arthur Lee
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Paymaster General
! scope=row|Thomas Legh, 2nd Baron Newton
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Arthur Henderson
|
|
|-
|Minister without Portfolio
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Postmaster General
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Herbert Samuel
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Joseph Pease
|
|
|-
|Assistant Postmaster-General
! scope=row|Herbert Pease
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Secretary for Scotland
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Thomas McKinnon Wood
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Harold Tennant
|
|
|-
|President of the Board of Trade
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Walter Runciman
|
|
|-
|Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade
! scope=row|E. G. Pretyman
|
|
|-
|First Commissioner of Works
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Lewis Harcourt
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Attorney General
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Sir Edward Carson
|
|
|-
! scope=row style="font-weight:bold;" |Sir F. E. Smith
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Solicitor General
! scope=row|Sir F. E. Smith
|
|
|-
! scope=row|Sir George Cave
|
|
|-
|Lord Advocate
! scope=row|Robert Munro
|
|
|-
|Solicitor General for Scotland
! scope=row|Thomas Brash Morison
|
|
|-
|rowspan=2|Attorney-General for Ireland
! scope=row|John Gordon
|
|
|-
! scope=row|James Campbell
|
|
|-
|Solicitor-General for Ireland
! scope=row|James O'Connor
|
|
|-
|Lord Steward of the Household
! scope=row|Horace Farquhar, 1st Baron Farquhar
|
|
|-
|Lord Chamberlain of the Household
! scope=row|William Mansfield, 2nd Baron Sandhurst
|
|
|-
|Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
! scope=row|Cecil Beck
|
|
|-
|Master of the Horse
! scope=row|Edwyn Scudamore-Stanhope, 10th Earl of Chesterfield
|
|
|-
|Treasurer of the Household
! scope=row|James Hope
|
|
|-
|Comptroller of the Household
! scope=row|Charles Roberts
|
|
|-
|
! scope=row|Edward Colebrooke, 1st Baron Colebrooke
|
|
|-
|Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
! scope=row|Charles Harbord, 6th Baron Suffield
|
|
|-
|rowspan=6|Lords-in-Waiting
! scope=row|Richard Herschell, 2nd Baron Herschell
|
|
|-
! scope=row|Wentworth Beaumont, 1st Viscount Allendale
|
|
|-
! scope=row|George Hamilton-Gordon, 2nd Baron Stanmore
|
|
|-
! scope=row|John Brocklehurst, 1st Baron Ranksborough
|
|
|-
! scope=row|Arthur Annesley, 11th Viscount Valentia
|
|
|-
! scope=row|Hylton Jolliffe, 3rd Baron Hylton
|
|
|}
See also
Notes
References
- Morgan, Kenneth O. The Age of Lloyd George: The Liberal Party and British Politics, 1890-1929 (1971)
- Smith, Larry Joseph. "Last chance for liberalism: Factionalism and financial chaos in the British Liberal Party, 1916–1926" (PhD dissertation, Texas A&M University, 2003; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2003. 3102506) online.