However the coalition was not entirely successful, there are many factors why it failed including Lloyd Georges questionable political methods, the failure to produce all the houses he promised in reconstruction, the 'Anti-waste League,' Public Disillusionment and the loss of Bonner Law from the coalition.
The methods that Lloyd George used while Prime Minister were very debatable as correct, he caused alot of trouble within Britain including disillusionment. One of the main reasons why the Coalition governament failed was because of Lloyd George, the Honours scandal is one reason. He sold peerages and other honours to whomever wanted them, the money gained from these fraudulent sales often went into his own back pocket and rarely any money went into the party/government. This type of action went on within other governmants but never before was it so openly talked about. Lloyd George was very contreversial in his actions and exmple of this is when he called a cabinet meeting in Inverness, Scotland to coincide with his highland holiday. Also the way he handled political situations including Chanak, Versailles and Ireland. The situation in Chanak was a win lose situation, it could have either been a massive success or the biggest failure. If successful it would have made him a hero but if it was unseccessful it would have cost Britain more men and would have been a pointless war, the situation in Turkey was of no responsiblity of Britains but Lloyd George saw it as an opportunity to become more successful and become a certainty to win the next election. It was seen and Lloyd George's greatest foreign policy error, getting involved with something that he did not need to get involved with.
Many people lost confidence with George after his part in the negotiations for the Traty of Versaille with the Allies and Germany. He wanted not to set reparations immediatley but to appoint a commision to assess the damage caused during the war and other monies that would have been lost and then they would be arranged. Many people thought that the reparations would be very lenient and 233 Conservatives expressed their feelings to him by signeing a telegram about their fears. The situation in Ireland also cause much harm to the coalition government and it's reputation. The coalition was split in two over the Ireland situation, the conservatives of the coalition, headed by Bonner Law backed the Unionists who wanted Northern Ireland to be part of Britain while the Nationalists, backed by the Liberals, wanted Ireland to be a serparate country. This caused many splits within the coalition. Lloyd George recieved alot of bad publicity for turning a 'blind eye' to the Black and Tans and their attacks on Unionists.
While many reasons why the coalition failed were down to Lloyd George there were other reasons like the lack of Conservative support, illustrated by the Carlton Club Meeting of 1922 And the loss of Bonner Law from the Coalition.
The Conservative back benchers were called to a meeting where they discussed the future of the party, the general trned in the meeting was that the party could go on without Lloyd George and the controversy that followed him. Bonner Law stated that although he has done great things for the country if he is allowed to go on he will ruin the Conservatives just as he destroyed his own Liberal Party. This lack of support led to the resignation of Lloyd George as he believed that without support from the coalition there was little point in him continuing as Prime Minister.
Before the Carlton Club Meeting in 1922, Bonner Law left the coaltion in may 1921 due to Ill health. This left Lloyd George with no mediator between himself and the Consevative back benchers, this left him isolated and with no respect from Law's replacement Austen Chamberlain, George was left 'partyless.' Bonner Law was a n integral part of the caolition because he told the backbenchers what Lloyd George has said but how they wanted to hear it as they both had a poor relationship with each other, this made communication hard without a Law. He also restrained Lloyd George from making more rash decisions.
In conclusion, although there are many points that indicate that the failure of the Coalition was down to Lloyd George and his bad decisions, he was no the only reason why it failed. The fact that the previous coalition failed gave people the impression that although the leader of the new coaltion "Won the War" some people might have the belief that it would fail like the one before it. The lack of backing from his coalition government could be due to Lloyd Georges leadership style but it could also be down to the fact that he was leading a government made up of previous opposition parties and the possibility that the Conservative party resented the fact that the two parties had joined and were being led by a Liberal was highly likely and would result in a lack of confidence.
