On This Day

06 July 1916

David Lloyd George becomes Secretary of State for War

One of his early decisions was to appoint Sir Eric Geddes, who was charged with managing the military railway connections in France. Most significantly, it was Asquith’s rejection of Lloyd George’s request to chair a small War Council to oversee the war effort that led to Lloyd George challenging his role and subsequently replacing him as Prime Minister later in 1916. In 1918 Lloyd George and Asquith would separately lead the Coalition Liberals and Liberals into the General Election.