After the war, Lloyd George was determined to recapture his old image as a great social reformer, and the Coalition made several pledges to the country promising social reforms. He said that he wanted to "make Britain a fit country for heroes to live in". Addison, a Liberal minister, brought in his Housing Act in 1919, forcing councils to build housing. This policy produced some 170,000 homes, although this was less than was promised. However, the Coalition's programme was greatly damaged when a depression set arose in 1921. This came to dominate domestic policies. Unemployment rose by 400,000 to 2 million from April to December 1921. The public feeling was that the government had let down the people in what should have been a time of progress post World War 1. The Conservatives pressured the government to cut back on benefits and housing. That the Conservatives were able to impose their policies on Lloyd George showed something of the weakness of him in the coalition. He relied on the Conservatives support as an isolated Prime Minister without a party. This is shown in the fact that he went for neither protection and tariffs or free trade, but instead for cuts. The Geddes budget cut public spending which was not a bad decision or a popular one. Also, this links in with Tories criticisms that he acted too much like a President as he was not one among many, but one who made his own decisions. Not keeping his promises to the people will have lost him popularity which was the main reason for the Conservatives staying in a coalition with him. So though, this is evidently less important than his lack of commitment to a party it is still something that will have led to his resignation.
Ireland was another major issue which greatly affected Lloyd George's popularity and support. Following the war there was a massive electoral victory for Sein Fein in Ireland and large scale civil disobedience erupted. Groups of ex-servicemen, nicknamed the "black and tans" were employed in suppressing the situation. Lloyd George hoped this would lead to a military victory in Ireland, and the conflict continued until a truce was called in 1921, leading to the treaty setting up the Irish Free State. However, what Lloyd George viewed as a triumph had managed to alienate groups from both left and right wings. He managed to do this again through his lack of loyalty to a specific party’s ideals – he was very inconsistent. Liberals were appalled by his use of violent repression, and Unionists were bitter that he had eventually chosen to negotiated with a "murder gang" and betrayed their vision of the country. The Conservatives around him traditionally didn’t want Ireland to be independent and his use of the black and tans caused the voters to lose trust in him as a leader in peacetime. His lack of a single plan to deal with the conflict led to both Liberals and Conservatives losing faith in him.
In foreign policy, Lloyd George also managed to alienate many from both sides of the political extreme. He also lost much prestige over the issue of Turkey. He had supported the Greeks in their attempts to capture territory from Turkey following the war, but the Greeks were losing by 1922 and Lloyd George wanted to help them, and therefore nearly dragged Britain into a war which none of its allies were willing to back her on. Although war was avoided many of his Conservative supporters were outraged at what they saw as his rashness. Most importantly, it was the public who, while recovering from the war the the reckless nature of Lloyd George. Also his pro-Greek policy offended the traditional Conservatives and British view of pro-Turk. Lloyd George also took blame for the way he handled The Treaty of Versailles. While 233 conservatives signed a petition to say he had been too lenient Liberals thought he had been too harsh and economies in Europe would suffer as a result. Because of his decisions he lost his image as the ‘man who won the war’ became something of the past. People questioned whether he was suited to presiding over the governance of a recovering country. Again this reverts back to him not belonging to a party. His survival depended on his popularity and so his measure of success.
Lloyd George was criticised for his autocratic style of government. The Conservatives attacked him as lacking any accountability as Prime Minister, claiming that he never turned up to Cabinet meetings or the House of Commons and if something went through Parliament he disagreed with he would leak information to the press. This showed his disrespect for politics with the Conservatives. Moreover, he also banished some government departments to the gardens of 10 Downing Street. This ‘garden suburb’ of World War 1 had never been got rid of and was kept so policies he wanted to get approved could be done so quickly. This made a mockery of politics and so ridiculed the Conservatives who had chosen to associate themselves with him. Additionally, his individual style linked with his disastrous foreign affairs as he attended 23 international conferences which largely amounted to nothing. The Conservatives didn’t have the popular leader, but still had his President-like style of leadership in the coalition which halted their careers (involvement of Liberals) and prevented them introducing strictly Conservative measures. Consequently, he was a problem rather than asset.
Lloyd George had used his powers as Prime Minister to accumulate a personal fund, by "selling" peerages. Though it had been done before by the Tories, he did it too obviously with an apparent price list in some drinking clubs and the honours given to people who weren’t ‘suitable’. The Conservatives may have condemned this as scandalous but took some of the money themselves. In this way Lloyd George is used as a scapegoat. As well as this there was the scandal of Lloyd George’s mistresses which disturbed the Tories, who had always been the moralistic party. Because of his Presidential-style leadership he represented every mistake the coalition had been judged to have made. Furthermore, because of his sub standard, quite public behaviour it was easy for the Tories to use him as a scapegoat using it as reference to his character. This could be seen as unimportant as if he had been successful it may have been overlooked, yet as he was largely unsuccessful it was the final blow dealt that ended his career. Therefore, though not the basis of the end of his time as Prime Minister, like his lack of a Party and consequent bad decisions, it did lead to a hastened end with the meeting at the Carlton Club not going as intended.
That the Coalition survived for three years is mainly due to Lloyd George's record from the war. The Conservative leadership also probably helped the Coalition to survive for longer. The fall from power of Lloyd George in 1922 was caused by several factors which eroded his support. Issues such as repression in Ireland and budget cuts alienated many of his old Liberal allies and won him few new ones. Conservatives were angered by his policies over Turkey, the sale of honours and the loss of Ireland. But most importantly, Lloyd George lost his appearance as a radical leader who could appeal to the people (and working class). The single most important reason behind the existence of the Coalition under Lloyd George had gone, and like all Prime Ministers who stay too long in office, Lloyd George was unceremoniously driven from power. In 1922 they used him to take the blame for the failures of the Coalition government, portraying him as a dictator, bypassing Cabinet in his own personal rule, abusing his powers of distribution honours for personal gain. Lloyd George's fall before, rather than following, a general election, demonstrates the most important factor than contributed to his downfall: the belonging to a party - something he had tried to deny.
by
bobwilkins (student)
