Editing H. H. Asquith (section)

=== Appointments and cabinet ===
[[File:Herbert-Henry-Asquith-1st-Earl-of-Oxford-and-Asquith.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Asquith in 1908]]

On Asquith's return from Biarritz, his leadership of the Liberals was affirmed by a party meeting (the first time this had been done for a prime minister).<ref name="dnb"/> He initiated a cabinet reshuffle. Lloyd George<!-- reminder to make sure that all of these are linked here if first usage --> was promoted to be Asquith's replacement as chancellor. [[Winston Churchill]] succeeded Lloyd George as [[President of the Board of Trade]], entering the Cabinet despite his youth (aged 33) and the fact that he had [[crossed the floor]] to become a Liberal only four years previously.{{sfn|Jenkins|p=181}}

Asquith demoted or dismissed a number of Campbell-Bannerman's cabinet ministers. [[Edward Marjoribanks, 2nd Baron Tweedmouth|Lord Tweedmouth]], the [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], was relegated to the nominal post of [[Lord President of the Council]]. [[Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin|Lord Elgin]] was sacked from the Colonial Office and the Earl of Portsmouth (whom Asquith had tutored) was too, as undersecretary at the War Office. The abruptness of their dismissals caused hard feelings; Elgin wrote to Tweedmouth, "I venture to think that even a prime minister may have some regard for the usages common among gentlemen&nbsp;... I feel that even a housemaid gets a better warning."{{efn|Notice before one's employment is terminated}}{{sfn|Hazlehurst|pp=504–505}}

Historian Cameron Hazlehurst wrote that "the new men, with the old, made a powerful team".{{sfn|Hazlehurst|p=506}} The cabinet choices balanced the competing factions in the party; the appointments of Lloyd George and Churchill satisfied the radicals, while the whiggish element favoured [[Reginald McKenna]]'s appointment as First Lord.<ref name="dnb" />