A Change of Government

David Lloyd George, 1915 [Wikimedia]

Tuesday 12th December 1916: The last week has been one of political crisis following the resignation of the Prime Minister, Mr. H. H. Asquith. His coalition government has now been replaced by a second coalition led by his fellow Liberal politician, the ‘Welsh Wizard’ David Lloyd George. Luton’s Member of Parliament, Mr. Cecil Harmsworth, has written to the Chairman of the South Bedfordshire Liberal Association and has requested that his views be made public:

  “A Coalition Government under the leadership of Mr. Asquith has been succeeded by a second Coalition under the direction of the most brilliant of our younger Liberal statesmen. As I write, Mr. Lloyd George has gathered round him a body of experienced statesmen, together with some gentlemen of great business reputation whose names have not hitherto been prominently before the public.
  To the new Government I shall extend the same faithful and hearty support that I accorded to the recent Government. This I feel to be the duty of every patriotic citizen. We have arrived at a juncture in our history when it is the plain duty of every one of us to do all in his or her power to strengthen the hands of the King’s Government and to prosecute the war with all possible vigour to a triumphant conclusion.
  … Of Mr. Asquith I may be permitted to say, in writing as a Liberal to a Liberal, that he carries with him in his retirement from the Premiership not only the grateful esteem but the affection of all who have for many years looked to him for leadership. I think that these sentiments are shared in large measure by members of the Conservative and Labour parties also.”

 Source: Luton News, 14th December 1916