1918-22 David Lloyd George Coalition 1918-22

• Lloyd George Coalition


  1918-22
• Following the war, Lloyd George was a very popular figure but he did not have a political party after WW1. Therefore the conservatives backed him through the 'coupon' scheme which meant that liberals relied on conservative support and couldn't make big changes.
• Meanwhile, there was conflict in Ireland: NE Ireland were protestants who didn't want independence and S Ireland were catholic and wanted 'Home Rule'. The IRA wanted complete independence and this led to the 1916 Easter Rising. In the election, Sinn Fein won 73 seats and this led to increased power in the hands of Lloyd George conservatives rather than Lloyd George himself.
• Industrial Relations


  • There were labour shortages as a result of the war and industry was lagging behind other countries as they did not undergo the Second Industrial Revolution (1870 onwards in chemicals, consumer goods and engineering). There was a trade disruption during the war and other industries were becoming more competitive.
• The coal industry wanted nationalisation through syndicalism principles however conservatives don't want this and set up the Sankey Commission to delay the issue.
• Inflation


  High (from 1918-9 it was at 50%) meaning that people with savings do well but home and business owners do well
• Some people wanted a return to the Gold Standard which would cause a deflationary cycle where wages, spending, taxes and therefore public spending decreased.
• Additionally, War Debt was a pressing concern despite the fact that the Government could pay back the money slowly.
• The Geddes Axe


  1. Government cuts to public spending

  2. Clear example of Gladstonian economics and Retrenchment as they focus on balancing the budget rather than investment to stimulate the economy
• The Labour party are annoyed by these cuts but the conservatives are pleased with the Gladstonian approach.
• The post-war boom led to a bust as the British market is not competitive and the US imposed tariffs so the export market decreased. Due to high unemployment, a policy of national insurance was extended to 12 million people.
• There was an assumption that unemployment would be cyclical and therefore people could only claim for a certain amount of time.
• Addison Housing Act 1919


  Cleared slums and began to encourage the building of low rent houses for the working class. However, the building industry ripped them off and built few houses for a large price.
• Lloyd George sold honours and titles to businessmen to raise money for the next election. He sold knighthoods, OBEs and Baronetcy and shared the proceeds with the conservatives.
• The prime minister is 'first among equals' but people believed he was centralising control through the cabinet office and the conservatives became annoyed about this.
• The Chanak Crisis: The Treaty of Sevres gave Turkey's land to Greece and when Turkey tried to take it back Lloyd George threatened war without consulting the conservatives, cabinet or dominions.
• The Charlton Club meeting was called between the conservatives and Austen Chamberlain spoke in favour of Lloyd George whereas Stanley Baldwin and Bonar Law believed they should ditch him and they voted to end the coalition.
• This election was tough for the liberals due to the previous split between pro-Home Rule (Asquith) and liberal unionists (LG). In this election, Bonar Law led the party and he adopted a free trade policy. However following his retirement, Stanley Baldwin became party leader and due to his protectionist ideology, he lost the 1924 election that he called.