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Portrait of H. H. Asquith

Prime Ministers · 20th century

H. H. Asquith

1852–1928 · British

Liberal

In office: 1908–1916

Herbert Henry Asquith was Liberal prime minister from 1908 to 1916, the longest continuous spell in office between Lord Liverpool and Margaret Thatcher. His government introduced old age pensions and National Insurance, and broke the veto of the House of Lords with the Parliament Act 1911 after the People's Budget crisis. He took Britain into the First World War in 1914 but was ousted in December 1916 and replaced by Lloyd George, splitting the Liberal Party.

How to spot them

  • ▸'Wait and see'; nicknamed 'Squiffy'
  • ▸People's Budget, Parliament Act 1911, House of Lords veto
  • ▸Took Britain into war in August 1914; replaced by Lloyd George in 1916
  • ▸Kissed hands in Biarritz; wife Margot; letters to Venetia Stanley
  • ▸Great-grandfather of the actress Helena Bonham Carter

In office

Old Age Pensions Act 1908 (1908)

Non-contributory pensions for poorer people over 70

Constitutional crisis over the 'People's Budget' (1909–1910)

The Lords rejected Lloyd George's budget, prompting two general elections in 1910

Parliament Act 1911 ending the Lords' absolute veto (1911)

Lords limited to delaying bills; maximum length of a parliament cut from seven to five years

National Insurance Act 1911 (1911)

Contributory health and unemployment insurance for workers

The 'Cat and Mouse Act' against hunger-striking suffragettes (1913)

Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health) Act

British declaration of war on Germany, 4 August 1914 (1914)

Following the German invasion of Belgium

The Shell Crisis and formation of the first wartime coalition (1915)

Shortage of artillery shells forced a coalition with the Conservatives

Government of Ireland Act 1914 (Third Home Rule Act), suspended for the war (1914)

Irish Home Rule enacted but never implemented; the Easter Rising followed in 1916

Key ideas

  • Classic Edwardian 'New Liberalism': state welfare funded by progressive taxation
  • Supremacy of the elected Commons over the hereditary Lords

Quick-fire facts

  • •Born in Morley, Yorkshire; educated at City of London School and Balliol College, Oxford
  • •The only PM to take office abroad: he kissed hands with Edward VII at Biarritz in 1908
  • •His eldest son Raymond was killed on the Somme in 1916
  • •Created Earl of Oxford and Asquith in 1925
  • •Payment of MPs was introduced in 1911 under his government
  • •His daughter Violet Bonham Carter was grandmother of Helena Bonham Carter
  • •Wrote hundreds of letters to Venetia Stanley, some during Cabinet meetings

Drill it — 8 cards

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Sources