Editing David Lloyd George (section)

== Early years as a member of Parliament (1890–1905) ==
Lloyd George's career as a member of parliament began when he was returned as a Liberal MP for [[Caernarfon (UK Parliament constituency)|Caernarfon Boroughs]] (now [[Caernarfon (UK Parliament constituency)|Caernarfon]]), narrowly winning the [[1890 Caernarvon Boroughs by-election|by-election on 10 April 1890]], following the death of the Conservative member [[Edmund Swetenham]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1987|loc=ch. Childhood, Youth, the Law and Politics, pp. 75–76}} He would remain an MP for the same constituency until 1945, 55 years later.<ref name="HatterNotAGent"/> Lloyd George's early beginnings in Westminster may have proven difficult for him as a radical liberal and "a great outsider".<ref name="HatterNotAGent"/> Backbench members of the House of Commons were not paid at that time, so Lloyd George supported himself and his growing family by continuing to practise as a solicitor. He opened an office in London under the name of "Lloyd George and Co." and continued in partnership with William George in [[Criccieth]]. In 1897, he merged his growing London practice with that of Arthur Rhys Roberts (who was to become [[Official Solicitor]]) under the name of "Lloyd George, Roberts and Co."<ref>{{cite book |last=Rowland |first=Peter |title=Lloyd George |publisher=Barrie & Jenkins Ltd |year=1975 |isbn=0-214-20049-3 |location=London |pages=125–126 |chapter=M.P. for Caernarvon Boroughs, 1896–1900}}</ref>

=== Welsh affairs ===
[[Kenneth O. Morgan]] describes Lloyd George as a "lifelong Welsh nationalist" and suggests that between 1880 and 1914 he was "the symbol and tribune of the [[Welsh nationalism|national reawakening of Wales]]", although he is also clear that from the early 1900s his main focus gradually shifted to UK-wide issues.<ref>{{cite web |title=David Lloyd George |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/george_david_lloyd.shtml |access-date=5 March 2022 |website=BBC History |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="open.edu">{{cite web |title=Unit 8 David Lloyd George and the destiny of Wales |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55160&printable=1 |publisher=Open University |access-date=5 March 2022}}</ref> He also became an associate of [[T. E. Ellis|Tom Ellis]], MP for Meirionydd, having previously told a Caernarfon friend in 1888 that he was a "Welsh Nationalist of the Ellis type".<ref>{{cite web |title=OLCreate: CYM-WH_E1 Sources for Unit 8: Source 8D |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55159&section=1.4 |access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher=Open University}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Disestablishment: Lloyd George and Tom Ellis's determination to press on with a Bill, Sept. 1893 |publisher=National Library of Wales |website=Archives and Manuscripts |url=https://archives.library.wales/index.php/disestablishment-lloyd-george-and-tom-elliss-determination-to-press-on-with-bill-sept-1893 |access-date=5 March 2022}}</ref>

==== Decentralisation and Welsh disestablishment ====
One of Lloyd George's first acts as an MP was to organise an informal grouping of Welsh Liberal members with a programme that included; disestablishing and disendowing the [[Church of England]] in Wales, [[Temperance movement in Wales|temperance]] reform, and establishing [[Welsh home rule]].<ref name="HatterNotAGent"/>{{rp|50}} He was keen on [[decentralisation]] and thus [[Welsh devolution]], starting with the devolution of the [[Church in Wales]] saying in 1890: "I am deeply impressed with the fact that Wales has wants and inspirations of her own which have too long been ignored, but which must no longer be neglected. First and foremost amongst these stands the cause of Religious Liberty and Equality in Wales. If returned to Parliament by you, it shall be my earnest endeavour to labour for the triumph of this great cause. I believe in a liberal extension of the principle of Decentralization."<ref>{{cite web |title=OLCreate: CYM-WH_E1 Sources for Unit 8: Source 8F |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55159&section=1.6 |publisher=Open University |access-date=1 March 2022}}</ref>

During the next decade, Lloyd George campaigned in Parliament largely on Welsh issues, in particular for disestablishment and disendowment of the Church of England. When Gladstone retired in 1894 after the defeat of the [[second Home Rule Bill]], the Welsh Liberal members chose him to serve on a deputation to [[William Vernon Harcourt (politician)|William Harcourt]] to press for specific assurances on Welsh issues. When those assurances were not provided, they resolved to take independent action if the government did not bring a bill for disestablishment. When a bill was not forthcoming, he and three other Welsh Liberals ([[D. A. Thomas]], [[Herbert Lewis (politician)|Herbert Lewis]] and [[Frank Edwards (British politician)|Frank Edwards]]) refused the [[Whip (politics)|whip]] on 14 April 1894, but accepted [[Lord Rosebery]]'s assurance and rejoined the official Liberals on 29 May.<ref name=":1"/>

==== {{lang|cy|italic=no|Cymru Fydd}} and Welsh devolution ====
Historian [[Emyr Price]] referred to Lloyd George as "the first architect of Welsh devolution and its most famous advocate" as well as "the pioneering advocate of a powerful parliament for the Welsh people".<ref>{{cite book |title=David Lloyd George (Celtic Radicals) |publisher=University of Wales Press |year=2005 |page=208}}</ref> Lloyd George himself stated in 1880 "Is it not high time that Wales should the powers to manage its own affairs" and in 1890, "Parliament is so overweighted that it cannot possibly devote the time and trouble necessary to legislate for the peculiar and domestic retirement of each and every separate province of Britain". These statements would later be used to advocate for a Welsh assembly in the [[1979 Welsh devolution referendum]].<ref>{{cite web |date=28 February 2022 |title=Yes or No? The Welsh Devolution Referendum |url=https://blog.library.wales/the-welsh-devolution-referendum/ |access-date=5 March 2022 |website=National Library of Wales Blog |language=en-US}}</ref> Lloyd George felt that disestablishment, land reform and other forms of Welsh devolution could only be achieved if Wales formed its own government within a federal imperial system.<ref name="open.edu"/> In 1895, in a failed Church in Wales Bill, Lloyd George added an amendment in a discreet attempt at forming a sort of Welsh home rule, a national council for appointment of the Welsh Church commissioners. Although not condemned by [[T. E. Ellis|Tom Ellis]] MP, this was to the annoyance of [[J. Bryn Roberts]] MP and the Home Secretary [[H. H. Asquith]] MP.<ref>{{cite web |title=OLCreate: CYM-WH_E1 Sources for Unit 8: Source 8Ji |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55159&section=1.11 |access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher=Open University}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=OLCreate: CYM-WH_E1 Sources for Unit 8: Source 8Jii |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55159&section=1.12 |access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher=Open University}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Doe |first=Norman |date=January 2020 |title=The Welsh Church Act 1914: A Century of Constitutional Freedom for the Church in Wales? |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ecclesiastical-law-journal/article/abs/welsh-church-act-1914-a-century-of-constitutional-freedom-for-the-church-in-wales/597309DC935A6E6B551CB43DF097EE8B |journal=Ecclesiastical Law Journal |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=2–14 |doi=10.1017/S0956618X19001674 |s2cid=213980589 |issn=0956-618X}}</ref>

He was also a co-leader of {{lang|cy|italic=no|[[Cymru Fydd]]}}, a national Welsh party with liberal values with the goals of promoting a "stronger Welsh identity" and establishing a Welsh government.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alfred Thomas's National Institution (Wales) Bills of 1891-92|via=[[ProQuest]]|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/f89689abf1ce5c56184975743e87cddc/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1820145 |access-date=1 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |website=BBC History |title=Cymru Fydd – Young Wales |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/politics_cymru_fydd.shtml |access-date=5 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Cymru Fydd {{!}} Cyf. I – 1888 |website=Welsh Journals |publisher=The National Library of Wales |url=https://journals.library.wales/view/2426646/2426647/ |access-date=7 March 2022}}</ref> He hoped that {{lang|cy|italic=no|Cymru Fydd}} would become a force like the [[Irish National Party]]. He abandoned this idea after being criticised in Welsh newspapers for bringing about the defeat of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] in the [[1895 United Kingdom general election|1895 election]]. In an AGM meeting in [[Newport, Wales|Newport]] on 16 January 1896 of the South Wales Liberal Federation, led by [[D. A. Thomas]], a proposal was made to unite the North and South Liberal Federations with {{lang|cy|italic=no|Cymru Fydd}} to form The Welsh National Federation. This was a proposal which the North Wales Liberal Federation had already agreed to. However, the South Wales Liberal Federation rejected this. According to Lloyd George, he was shouted down by "Newport Englishmen" in the meeting, although the ''[[South Wales Argus]]'' suggested the poor crowd behaviour came from Lloyd George's supporters.<ref name=":1">{{harvnb|Gilbert|1987|loc=ch. The Early Years in Parliament: The Welsh Parnell, pp. 146–147}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=OLCreate: CYM-WH_E1 Sources for Unit 8: Source 8Kii |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55159&section=1.14 |access-date=6 March 2022 |website=open.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=OLCreate: CYM-WH_E1 Sources for Unit 8: Source 8Kiii |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55159&section=1.15 |access-date=6 March 2022 |publisher=Open University}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web |title=Unit 8 David Lloyd George and the destiny of Wales |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55160&printable=1 |access-date=6 March 2022 |publisher=Open University}}</ref> Following difficulty in uniting the Liberal federations along with {{lang|cy|italic=no|Cymru Fydd}} in the South East and thus, difficulty in gaining support for Home Rule for Wales, Lloyd George shifted his focus to improving the socio-economic environment of Wales as part of the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[British Empire]]. Although Lloyd George considered himself a "Welshman first", he saw the opportunities for Wales within the UK.<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{cite web |date=8 February 2021 |title=What happened to the voices arguing for a strong Welsh and British identity in the union? |url=https://nation.cymru/opinion/what-happened-to-the-voices-arguing-for-a-strong-welsh-and-british-identity-in-the-union/ |access-date=2022-03-05 |website=Nation.Cymru |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==== Uniting Welsh Liberals ====
In 1898, Lloyd George created the Welsh National Liberal Council, a loose umbrella organisation covering the two federations, but with very little power. In time, it became known as the Liberal Party of Wales.<ref name="alderton">{{cite web |last=Alderton |first=Nicholas |title=The formation of the Welsh Liberal Party, 1966–1967 |url=https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/conference/papers/2015/The%20Formation%20of%20the%20Welsh%20Liberal%20Party%20(1).pdf |access-date=10 April 2019 |website=Political Studies Association}}</ref>

==== Support of Welsh institutions ====
Lloyd George had a connection to or promoted the establishment of the [[National Library of Wales]], the [[National Museum of Wales]] and the Welsh Department of the [[Board of Education (United Kingdom)|Board of Education]].<ref name="ReferenceB"/> He also showed considerable support for the [[University of Wales]], that its establishment raised the status of Welsh people and that the university deserved greater funding by the UK government.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=B. |first=G. H. |date=1908-11-01 |title=Mr. Lloyd George on the Endowment of Universities |journal=Nature |volume=79 |issue=2038 |pages=86–87 |doi=10.1038/079086a0 |bibcode=1908Natur..79...86G |s2cid=26692106 |issn=1476-4687|doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Opposition to the Boer War ===
Lloyd George had been impressed by his journey to Canada in 1899. Although sometimes wrongly supposed—both at the time and subsequently—to be a [[Little Englander]], he was not an opponent of the British Empire ''per se'', but in a speech at Birkenhead (21 November 1901) he stressed that it needed to be based on freedom, including for India, not "racial arrogance".<ref name="GriggCrisisAtSea">{{harvnb|Grigg|2003|loc=ch. "Crisis at Sea and Revolution in Russia"}}</ref>{{rp|61}} Consequently, he gained national fame by displaying vehement opposition to the [[Second Boer War]].{{sfn|Hattersley|2010|loc=ch. "Go for Joe", pp. [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781408700976/page/119 119]–144}}

Following Rosebery's lead, he based his attack firstly on what were supposed to be Britain's war aims—remedying the grievances of the {{lang|af|italic=no|[[Uitlander]]s}} and in particular the claim that they were wrongly denied the right to vote, saying "I do not believe the war has any connection with the franchise. It is a question of 45% dividends" and that England (which did not then have universal male suffrage) was more in need of franchise reform than the Boer republics. A second attack came on the cost of the war, which, he argued, prevented overdue social reform in England, such as old-age pensions and workmen's cottages. As the fighting continued his attacks moved to its conduct by the generals, who, he said (basing his words on reports by [[William Burdett-Coutts]] in ''[[The Times]]''), were not providing for the sick or wounded soldiers and were starving Boer women and children in concentration camps. But his major thrusts were reserved for the Chamberlains, accusing them of [[war profiteering]] through the family company [[Kynoch]] Ltd, of which Chamberlain's brother was chairman. The firm had won tenders to the [[War Office]], though its prices were higher than some of its competitors. After speaking at a meeting in Birmingham Lloyd George had to be smuggled out disguised as a policeman, as his life was in danger from the mob. At this time the Liberal Party was badly split as [[H. H. Asquith]], [[R. B. Haldane]] and others were supporters of the war and formed the [[Liberal Imperialists|Liberal Imperial League]].{{sfn|Gilbert|1987|loc=ch. The Free Lancer: The South African War, 1895–1902, pp. 178–214}}

=== Opposition to the Education Act 1902 ===
[[File:David Lloyd George 1902.jpg|thumb|upright|Lloyd George in 1902]]
On 24 March [[Arthur Balfour]], just about to take office as Prime Minister, introduced a bill which was to become the [[Education Act 1902]]. Lloyd George supported the bill's proposals to bring voluntary schools (i.e. religious schools—mainly Church of England, and some Roman Catholic schools in certain inner city areas) in England and Wales under the control of local school boards, who would conduct inspections and appoint two out of each school's six managers. However, other measures were more contentious: the majority-religious school managers would retain the power to employ or sack teachers on religious grounds and would receive money from the [[Rates in the United Kingdom|rates]] (local property taxes). This offended nonconformist opinion, then in a period of revival, as it seemed like a return to the hated [[church rates]] (which had been compulsory until 1868), and inspired a large grassroots campaign against the bill.<ref name="CrosbyWithRadical"/>{{rp|52–7}}

Within days of the bill's unveiling (27 March), Lloyd George denounced "priestcraft" in a speech to his constituents, and he began an active campaign of speaking against the bill, both in public in Wales (with a few speeches in England) and in the House of Commons. On 12 November, Balfour accepted an amendment (willingly, but a rare case of him doing so), ostensibly from [[Alfred Thomas, 1st Baron Pontypridd|Alfred Thomas]], chairman of the Welsh Parliamentary Liberal Party, but in reality instigated by Lloyd George, transferring control of Welsh schools from appointed boards to the elected county councils. The Education Act became law on 20 December 1902.<ref name="CrosbyWithRadical"/>{{rp|52–57}}

Lloyd George now announced the real purpose of the amendment, described as a "booby trap" by his biographer John Grigg. The Welsh National Liberal Council soon adopted his proposal that county councils should refuse funding unless repairs were carried out to schools (many were in a poor state), and should also demand control of school governing bodies and a ban on religious tests for teachers; "no control, no cash" was Lloyd George's slogan. Lloyd George negotiated with [[A. G. Edwards (bishop)|A. G. Edwards]], Anglican [[Bishop of St Asaph]], and was prepared to settle on an "agreed religious syllabus" or even to allow Anglican teaching in schools, provided the county councils retained control of teacher appointments, but this compromise failed after opposition from other Anglican Welsh bishops. A well-attended meeting at Park Hall Cardiff (3 June 1903) passed a number of resolutions by acclamation: county council control of schools, withholding money from schools or even withholding rates from unsupportive county councils. The Liberals soon gained control of all thirteen Welsh County Councils. Lloyd George continued to speak in England against the bill, but the campaign there was less aggressively led, taking the form of passive resistance to rate paying.<ref name="CrosbyWithRadical"/>{{rp|52–57}}

In August 1904 the government brought in the Education (Local Authority Default) Act giving the Board of Education power to take charge of schools, which Lloyd George immediately nicknamed the "Coercion of Wales Act". He addressed another convention in Cardiff on 6 October 1904, during which he proclaimed that the Welsh flag was "a dragon rampant,{{efn|Strictly speaking, the Welsh dragon is actually ''passant''. The dragon on the Tudor coat of arms was ''rampant''. See [[Attitude (heraldry)]].}} not a sheep recumbent". Under his leadership, the convention pledged not to maintain elementary schools, or to withdraw children from elementary schools altogether so that they could be taught privately by the nonconformist churches. In Travis Crosbie's words, public resistance to the Education Act had caused a "perfect impasse".<ref name="CrosbyWithRadical"/>{{rp|52–57}} There was no progress between Welsh counties and Westminster until 1905.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Unit 8 David Lloyd George and the destiny of Wales: View as single page |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=55160&printable=1 |access-date=2022-04-25 |publisher=Open University}}</ref>

Having already gained national recognition for his anti-Boer War campaigns, Lloyd George's leadership of the attacks on the Education Act gave him a strong parliamentary reputation and marked him as a likely future cabinet member.{{sfn|Hattersley|2010|loc=ch. "Noncomformity's Champion", pp. [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781408700976/page/145 145]–165}} The Act served to reunify the Liberals after their divisions over the Boer War and to increase Nonconformist influence in the party, which then included educational reform as policy in the [[1906 United Kingdom general election|1906 election]], which resulted in a Liberal landslide.<ref name="Daglish1994">{{cite journal |last=Daglish |first=Neil D. |year=1994 |title=Lloyd George's Education Bill? Planning the 1906 Education Bill |journal=History of Education: Journal of the History of Education Society |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=375–384 |doi=10.1080/0046760940230403}}</ref> All 34 Welsh seats returned a Liberal, except for one Labour seat in Merthyr Tydfil.<ref name=":0"/>

=== Other stances ===
Lloyd George also supported the [[romantic nationalist]] idea of [[Pan-Celticism|Pan-Celtic unity]] and gave a speech at the 1904 [[Pan-Celtic Congress]] in [[Caernarfon]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Barra |first=Caoimhín De |title=Celts divided by more than the Irish Sea |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/celts-divided-by-more-than-the-irish-sea-1.3705930 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126145045/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/celts-divided-by-more-than-the-irish-sea-1.3705930 |archive-date=26 November 2018 |access-date=23 January 2019 |newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref>

During his second-ever speech in the House of Commons, Lloyd George criticised the grandeur of the monarchy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Campaigns in Wales |publisher=The National Library of Wales |url=https://www.library.wales/index.php?id=8198 |access-date=2022-03-05}}</ref>

Lloyd George wrote extensively for Liberal-supporting papers such as the ''[[Manchester Guardian]]'' and spoke on Liberal issues (particularly temperance—the "[[local option]]"—and national as opposed to denominational education) throughout England and Wales.<ref name=":1"/>

He served as the legal adviser of [[Theodor Herzl]] in his negotiations with the British government regarding the [[Uganda Scheme]], proposed as an alternative homeland for the Jews due to Turkish refusal to grant a charter for Jewish settlement in Palestine.<ref>{{cite web |date=15 January 1931 |title=Mr. Lloyd George Was Legal Adviser to Dr. Herzl on Uganda Project and Submitted Dr. Herzl's Views to British Government<!-- title truncated by archive -->|agency=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|url=https://www.jta.org/1931/01/15/archive/mr-lloyd-george-was-legal-adviser-to-dr-herzl-on-uganda-project-and-submitted-dr-herzls-views-to |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825084349/https://www.jta.org/1931/01/15/archive/mr-lloyd-george-was-legal-adviser-to-dr-herzl-on-uganda-project-and-submitted-dr-herzls-views-to |archive-date=25 August 2019 |access-date=25 August 2019}}</ref>