Editing George V (section)

===National politics===
[[File:1914 King George V and Queen Mary autochrome.jpg|thumb|[[Autochrome Lumière|Autochrome]] of King George V and Queen Mary by Jean Desboutin, 13 March 1914]]
George inherited the throne at a politically turbulent time.<ref>Rose, p. 115</ref> [[Lloyd George]]'s [[People's Budget]] had been rejected the previous year by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] and [[Unionism in Ireland|Unionist]]-dominated [[House of Lords]], contrary to the normal convention that the Lords did not veto [[money bill]]s.<ref>Rose, pp. 112–114</ref> [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] Prime Minister [[H. H. Asquith]] had asked the previous king to give an undertaking that he would create sufficient Liberal peers to allow the passage of Liberal legislation. Edward had reluctantly agreed, provided the Lords rejected the budget after two successive general elections. After the [[January 1910 general election]], the Conservative peers allowed the budget, for which the government now had an electoral mandate, to pass without a vote.<ref>Rose, p. 114</ref>

[[File:1914 Sydney Half Sovereign - George V.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Gold coin with left-facing profile portrait of George V|A George V [[half-sovereign]] ([[Bertram Mackennal]], sculptor)]]

Asquith attempted to curtail the power of the Lords through constitutional reforms, which were again blocked by the Upper House. A constitutional conference on the reforms broke down in November 1910 after 21 meetings. Asquith and [[Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe|Lord Crewe]], Liberal leader in the Lords, asked George to grant a dissolution, leading to a second general election, and to promise to create sufficient Liberal peers if the Lords blocked the legislation again.<ref>Rose, pp. 116–121</ref> If George refused, the Liberal government would otherwise resign, which would have given the appearance that the monarch was taking sides – with "the peers against the people" – in party politics.<ref>Rose, pp. 121–122</ref> The King's two private secretaries, the Liberal [[Francis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys|Lord Knollys]] and the Unionist [[Lord Stamfordham]], gave George conflicting advice.<ref name=R120/><ref>{{citation|first=Frank|last=Hardy|date=May 1970|title=The King and the constitutional crisis|magazine=History Today|volume=20|issue=5|pages=338–347}}</ref> Knollys advised George to accept the Cabinet's demands, while Stamfordham advised George to accept the resignation.<ref name=R120>Rose, pp. 120, 141</ref> Like his father, George reluctantly agreed to the dissolution and creation of peers, although he felt his ministers had taken advantage of his inexperience to browbeat him.<ref>Rose, pp. 121–125</ref> After the [[December 1910 general election]], the Lords let the bill pass on hearing of the threat to swamp the house with new peers.<ref>Rose, pp. 125–130</ref> The subsequent [[Parliament Act 1911]] permanently removed – with a few exceptions – the power of the Lords to veto bills. George later came to feel that Knollys had withheld information from him about the willingness of the opposition to form a government if the Liberals had resigned.<ref>Rose, p. 123</ref>

The 1910 general elections had left the Liberals as a minority government dependent upon the support of the [[Irish Nationalist Party]]. As desired by the Nationalists, Asquith introduced [[Home Rule Act 1914|legislation that would give Ireland Home Rule]], but the Conservatives and Unionists opposed it.<ref name="dnb"/><ref>Rose, p. 137</ref> As tempers rose over the Home Rule Bill, which would never have been possible without the Parliament Act, relations between the elderly Knollys and the Conservatives became poor, and he was pushed into retirement.<ref>Rose, pp. 141–143</ref> Desperate to avoid the prospect of civil war in Ireland between Unionists and Nationalists, George called a [[Buckingham Palace Conference|meeting of all parties at Buckingham Palace]] in July 1914 in an attempt to negotiate a settlement.<ref>Rose, pp. 152–153, 156–157</ref> After four days the conference ended without an agreement.<ref name="dnb"/><ref>Rose, p. 157</ref> Political developments in Britain and Ireland were overtaken by events in Europe, and the issue of Irish Home Rule was [[Suspensory Act 1914|suspended]] for the duration of the war.<ref name="dnb"/><ref>Rose, p. 158</ref>