15 October 1926

H.H. Asquith resigns as leader of the Liberal Party

The events leading to his resignation were painful and protracted. The General Strike in May resulted in a public falling out between Asquith and Lloyd George. Asquith and his supporters saw an opportunity to part company with LlG however the parliamentary party and the Candidates Association annoyed at once again being put in an invidious position passed resolutions urging conciliation. Matters were due to come to a head at the annual meeting of the National Liberal Federation in Weston-Super-Mare. However, a few days before the meeting Asquith was incapactated by a stroke which kept him out of action for three months. Lloyd George attended the NLF meeting and received a rapturous reception. By the time he recovered in September Asquith realised his position was impossible. Writing to his wife he summed up his situation, ‘The alternatives are to lead a squalid faction fight against LlG. in which he would have all the sinews of war; or to accept his money and patch up a hollow and humiliating alliance. I am quite resolved to do neither…’. He announced his resignation in a short letter to the leaders of the English and Scottish Liberal Federations and that evening bade farewell to active politics at a farewell meeting at Greenock attended by many old faithful friends.