What strategies did the Liberal Government adapt to bring about changes to the political system in the years 1910-14?
During the years 1910-1914, there were various struggles in the political system. The Lords Crisis was the most severe of these struggles, mainly because of the nature of the issue; the safeguarding of democracy. To bring about a positive change and secure the parliament act, the Liberals had to use several strategies such as careful handling of the crown, charming the electorate and manipulation of the weaknesses in the opposition.
The most cunning strategy was using the partnership of Asquith and David Lloyd George. Both politicians had different talents and the combination of these made a good partnership. Asquith was an excellent negotiator and his policy of ‘wait and see’ stopped the Lords crisis from escalating. He also had to liase with the King whose support was vital to the Liberal Government as the King had promised to create Liberal peers, if necessary, to pass the Parliament bill. Asquith negotiated with skill and he managed to procure promises from both George V and Edward VIII for the creation of Liberal peers. He did this by giving in to what they thought was best such as elections in January 1910 and December 1910. These elections were extremely risky as the Liberal Government had a huge majority in the houses of commons and there was no guarantee that they would keep that majority. It was here that Asquith relied on his partnership with Lloyd George. He was a man of the people and had an affinity with the working classes who made up most of the electorate. By turning the crisis into a class war he was able to help Asquith secure these all-important elections. The Lloyd George’s empathy with the electorate and Asquith’s discussion skills were an important partnership and when used a shrewd strategy.
