Why did Lloyd George become Prime Minister in December 1916?

Another reason why Lloyd George became Prime Minister was because of his huge success as Minister for Munitions during the shell-shortage-crisis at the beginning of the war for the Western front. Lloyd George dealt with the problem very well and gained popularity from the Conservatives and therefore the Conservatives said that Lloyd George should replace Asquith as Prime Minister. This links with Lloyd George’s political manoeuvring because it is the support from the Conservatives that allows Lloyd George to push Asquith out of power. This was a good reason why Lloyd George became Prime Minister because if Lloyd George was not successful with the Munitions crisis he would not have had the support from the Conservatives meaning that he could not have manipulated Asquith out of power and became Prime Minister in 1916.

The final reason why Lloyd George became Prime Minister in 1916 was because of Asquith’s failures at the beginning of the war. This included the slow formation of the first Coalition in 1915, the lack of State Intervention necessary and Asquith’s personal unpopularity, especially with the Conservatives. These were reasons why Lloyd George became Prime Minister in 1916 because they showed Asquith’s inability to run a country going into war and therefore outlined how Lloyd George would be better. Asquith was attacked in the media for alcohol problems and therefore he lost trust from the public and the Conservatives. This linked to Lloyd George’s suitability because it highlighted where Lloyd George could have been a better Prime Minister (although historian Martin Pugh says that Lloyd George never planned to replace Asquith). This made the Conservatives dislike Asquith’s position. This, again, meant that Lloyd George could manipulate Asquith out of Government because of the support of the Conservatives.

Overall, the main reason why Lloyd George became Prime Minister in 1916 was because of his ability to politically manoeuvre the Government and put Asquith in a dead-end position meaning that Lloyd George would become Prime Minister. This is more important than the other factors because it was Lloyd George’s manipulation that caused him to become Prime Minister and other factors such as Asquith’s unpopularity and Lloyd George’s suitability only helped towards Lloyd George’s manipulation.