Once again, UK Tories lose their way over Europe

JUST over 100 years ago, one of the most powerful political parties in Britain was removed from office, never to come into power again on its own bat. The Liberal party – what had been the Whigs – had been in office for 17 years by 1922. During the first world war, they swapped prime minister from Herbert Asquith to the radical David Lloyd George. Given the way the war was going, the hope was that Lloyd George would be a better wartime leader.

Lloyd George was an outsider, and an unusual choice for prime minister. He was Welsh and, unlike Asquith, had no aristocratic connections – the third commoner to hold the position. While the ruling party leaders were Anglicans, Lloyd George was a Methodist.

Under Lloyd George, the Liberals constructed a coalition with the Conservatives, their perennial rivals. The newly formed Labour party was just making its mark. The coalition won the “khaki” election of 1919, so called to honour the returning soldiers who had fought so well.