Home > Facts > British History Facts > David Lloyd George Facts

David Lloyd George Facts

David Lloyd George Facts
David Lloyd George was a British politician and statesmen who is best remembered for being the United Kingdom's prime minister during World War I (1916-1922). As a leader of the victorious Allies, George played a major role during the Versailles Treaty negotiations, taking a more moderate view toward Germany, favoring reconciliation over reparations as the French preferred. He was a member of the Liberal Party and was that party's last member to be prime minister. George was born David Lloyd George on January 17, 1863 in Manchester, England to William and Elizabeth George. David's family was ethnic Welsh and he was brought up with Welsh as his first language. After his father died when he was a toddler, David was raised by his mother's brother, Richard Lloyd, who took a keen interest in his nephew's upbringing, acting as an adoptive father. He spent his childhood and young adulthood in Wales. George studied the law and worked as a solicitor in the late 1800s and then became involved in local politics. He married his wife, Margaret Owen, who was also Welsh, in January 1888. The couple would have five children.
Interesting David Lloyd George Facts:
Early in his political career George flirted with Welsh nationalist and separatist parties.
George first became a "minister of parliament" (MP), which is the elected officials in the United Kingdom's House of Commons, on April 10, 1890. He the representative for the Caernarfon Boroughs district of Caernarfon, Wales. He was a member of the Liberal Party.
George was a member of the Welsh nationalist Cymru Fydd, which is translate into English as "Young Wales."
Before becoming prime minister, Lloyd held a number of important government positions, including: President of the Board of Trade, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Secretary for the State for War in 1916.
Lloyd was the primary architect of the National Insurance Act of 1911, which was the first step toward nationalized health insurance in the United Kingdom.
Lloyd was also instrumental in raising minimum wage for farmers, licensing of pubs, guaranteed lunches for school children, and pensions for the elderly. These were all part of the "Liberal welfare reforms" of 1906 to 1914, which George and the Liberal Party Championed.
George was generally against war on principle and was initially against British involvement in World War I.
Once the war began, George became the prime minister by leading a wartime coalition of Liberal Party members and member of the Conservative Party. Other members of the Liberal Party supported Prime Minister H.H. Asquith, who George replaced.
Although George was firmly on the leftwing of the political spectrum, he was anti-communist, which is partially why he was sympathetic to the Nazis before World War II. By that time, though, George had largely retired from public service and an entirely new generation were running the United Kingdom.
George died of cancer on March 26, 1945 at the age of eighty-two. He was buried in Llanystumdwy, Wales.
Although Wales has been part of the United Kingdom since the Middle Ages, George is the only Welshman to be the country's prime minister.


Related Links:
Facts
British History Facts
Animals Facts