H. H. Asquith

Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and <a href="/facts/Liberal_Party_(UK)/MzUNPLEr">Liberal</a> politician who was <a href="/facts/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom/Uf40UlBb">Prime Minister of the United Kingdom</a> from 1908 to 1916. He was the last prime minister from the Liberal Party to command a <a href="/facts/Majority_government/etCjde37">majority government</a>, and the most recent Liberal to have served as <a href="/facts/Leader_of_the_Opposition_(United_Kingdom)/9pKPgcyr">Leader of the Opposition</a>. He played a major role in the design and passage of <a href="/facts/Liberal_welfare_reforms/WAKHbVLL">major liberal legislation</a> and a reduction of the power of the <a href="/facts/House_of_Lords/ycQphmgj">House of Lords</a>. In August 1914, Asquith took <a href="/facts/British_entry_into_World_War_I/JEYfLBb1">Great Britain and the British Empire into the First World War</a>. During 1915, his government was vigorously attacked for a shortage of munitions and the failure of the <a href="/facts/Gallipoli_Campaign/EDePckSo">Gallipoli Campaign</a>. He formed a <a href="/facts/Coalition_government/AvBSARsj">coalition government</a> with other parties but failed to satisfy critics, was forced to resign in December 1916 and never regained power.
After attending <a href="/facts/Balliol_College%2c_Oxford/Hlazbx7N">Balliol College, Oxford</a>, he became a successful <a href="/facts/Barrister/pu8vNbSC">barrister</a>. In 1886, he was the Liberal candidate for <a href="/facts/East_Fife_(UK_Parliament_constituency)/NbpUtMeA">East Fife</a>, a seat he held for over thirty years. In 1892, he was appointed <a href="/facts/Home_Secretary/nSYzwvRz">Home Secretary</a> in <a href="/facts/Liberal_government%2c_1892%25E2%2580%25931895/tlb9N6vU">Gladstone's fourth ministry</a>, remaining in the post until the Liberals lost the <a href="/facts/1895_United_Kingdom_general_election/mswnsoPP">1895 election</a>. In the decade of opposition that followed, Asquith became a major figure in the party, and when the Liberals regained power under <a href="/facts/Sir_Henry_Campbell-Bannerman/jk0zNRGr">Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman</a> in 1905, Asquith was named <a href="/facts/Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer/KlgE2uFn">Chancellor of the Exchequer</a>. In 1908, Asquith succeeded him as prime minister. The Liberals were determined to advance their reform agenda. An impediment to this was the House of Lords, which rejected the <a href="/facts/People%2527s_Budget/jCGu9k4M">People's Budget</a> of 1909. Meanwhile, the <a href="/facts/South_Africa_Act_1909/vJo9GMm9">South Africa Act 1909</a> passed. Asquith called an <a href="/facts/January_1910_United_Kingdom_general_election/WIPSHpnf">election for January 1910</a>, and the Liberals won, though they were reduced to a <a href="/facts/Minority_government/IpJcjuIE">minority government</a>. After another <a href="/facts/December_1910_United_Kingdom_general_election/Urgupdon">general election in December 1910</a>, he gained passage of the <a href="/facts/Parliament_Act_1911/PbMDAz2P">Parliament Act 1911</a>, allowing a bill three times passed by the Commons in consecutive sessions to be enacted regardless of the Lords. Asquith was less successful in dealing with <a href="/facts/Irish_Home_Rule/1cUQK58t">Irish Home Rule</a>. Repeated crises led to <a href="/facts/Larne_gun-running/t7PtzfvB">gun running</a> and violence, verging on civil war.
When Britain declared war on Germany in response to the German invasion of Belgium, high-profile domestic conflicts were suspended regarding Ireland and women's suffrage. Asquith was more of a committee chair than a dynamic leader. He oversaw national mobilisation, the dispatch of the <a href="/facts/British_Expeditionary_Force_(World_War_I)/5rt91hcp">British Expeditionary Force</a> to the Western Front, the creation of a mass army and the development of an industrial strategy designed to support the country's war aims. The war became bogged down and there was a call for better leadership. He was forced to form a <a href="/facts/Asquith_coalition_ministry/PbYoyoVw">coalition with the Conservatives and Labour early in 1915</a>. He was weakened by his own indecision over strategy, conscription and financing. <a href="/facts/David_Lloyd_George/8J8gwEhu">David Lloyd George</a> replaced him as prime minister in December 1916. They became bitter enemies and fought for control of the fast-declining Liberal Party. Asquith's role in creating the modern <a href="/facts/British_welfare_state/6VdadqGB">British welfare state</a> (1906–1911) has been celebrated, but his weaknesses as a war leader and as a party leader after 1914 have been highlighted by historians. He remained the only prime minister between 1827 and 1979 to serve more than eight consecutive years in a single term.

H. H. Asquith open-in-new

H. H. Asquith