Editing H. H. Asquith (section)

====Tuesday 5 December====
[[File:A.J. Balfour LCCN2014682753 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Arthur Balfour]]]]
Lloyd George accepted the challenge by return of post, writing: "As all delay is fatal in war, I place my office without further parley at your disposal."{{sfn|Grigg 1985|p=462}} Asquith had anticipated this response, but was surprised by a letter from Arthur Balfour, who until that point had been removed from the crisis by illness.{{sfn|Jenkins|p=453}} On its face, this letter merely offered confirmation that Balfour believed that Lloyd George's scheme for a smaller War Council deserved a chance and that he had no wish to remain at the Admiralty if Lloyd George wished him out. Jenkins argues that Asquith should have recognised it as a shift of allegiance.{{sfn|Jenkins|p=453}} Asquith discussed the crisis with Lord Crewe and they agreed an early meeting with the Unionist ministers was essential. Without their support, "it would be impossible for Asquith to continue."{{sfn|Cassar|p=226}}

Asquith's meeting with Chamberlain, Curzon and Cecil at 3.00&nbsp;p.m. only highlighted the weakness of his position.{{sfn|Dutton|p=133}} They unanimously declined to serve in a Government that did not include Law and Lloyd George,{{sfn|Jenkins|p=454}} as a Government so constituted offered no "prospect of stability". Their reply to Asquith's follow-up question as to whether they would serve under Lloyd George caused him even more concern. The "Three Cs" stated they would serve under Lloyd George if he could create the stable Government they considered essential for the effective prosecution of the war.{{sfn|Chamberlain|p=124}}

The end was near, and a further letter from Balfour declining to reconsider his earlier decision brought it about. The Home Secretary, [[Herbert Samuel]], recorded in a contemporaneous note: "We were all strongly of opinion, from which [Asquith] did not dissent, that there was no alternative [to resignation]. We could not carry on without LlG and the Unionists and ought not to give the appearance of wishing to do so."{{sfn|Samuel|p=122}}

At 7.00&nbsp;pm, having been prime minister for eight years and 241 days, Asquith went to Buckingham Palace and tendered his resignation.{{sfn|Asquith 1928b|p=134}} Describing the event to a friend sometime later, Asquith wrote, "When I fully realised what a position had been created, I saw that I could not go on without dishonour or impotence, or both."{{sfn|Asquith 1933|p=241}} That evening, he dined at Downing Street with family and friends, his daughter-in-law Cynthia describing the scene: "I sat next to the P.M.—he was too darling—rubicund, serene, puffing a guinea cigar and talking of going to Honolulu."{{sfn|Cynthia Asquith|p=241}} Cynthia believed that he would be back "in the saddle" within a fortnight with his position strengthened.{{sfn|De Courcy|2014|pp=330–340}}

Later that evening Law, who had been to the Palace to receive the King's commission, arrived to enquire whether Asquith would serve under him. Lord Crewe described Asquith's reply as "altogether discouraging, if not definitely in the negative."{{sfn|Asquith 1928b|p=134}}{{efn|That evening, Aitken and Churchill were dining with [[F. E. Smith]] at the latter's [[Grosvenor Gardens]] home. The dinner ended acrimoniously, as Aitken records: {{"'}}Smith,' said Winston with great emphasis, 'This man knows I am not to be in the Government.' He picked up his coat and hat and dashed into the street&nbsp;... a curious end to the day." Churchill was detested by the Conservatives for his defection to the Liberals in 1904, for his role as an active, partisan Liberal thereafter, and for his role in the disastrous [[Dardanelles campaign]]; despite his energy and ability Lloyd George was not able to bring him back into the government until the summer of 1917.{{sfn|Chisholm & Davie|p=149}}}}