A. J. P. Taylor on David Lloyd George

“Count up all his faults, set against them what he achieved, and it is difficult to resist the feeling that Lloyd George was the greatest ruler of England since Oliver Cromwell.”

“In the long retrospect of time he is likely to be seen as the greatest British statesman of the twentieth century and perhaps the greatest Prime Minister of all time... Only the other day an inquiry among Labour MPs revealed that more of them had drawn their inspiration from Lloyd George than ever from Keir Hardie.”

“His own achievements were on the highest level. He inaugurated the welfare state. He broke the power of the House of Lords. He led the country to victory in the First World War. He mastered the social and political perils which followed that war. He ended the age-old feud between Ireland and Great Britain. When cast out of office he continued to put forward policies in both economics and foreign affairs wiser and more constructive than those of his feeble successors.”

“Lloyd George was the most dynamic figure in British politics during the first part of the twentieth century. He was the pioneer of the welfare state, the first man of the people to become prime minister, and the man who won the First World War. He carried the British Empire to a pinnacle of greatness. He solved the Irish question or at any rate came nearer than any other man to doing so. Even out of office, he continued to wield great influence—admired by some, feared by many. He was almost the man of destiny in 1931 and still dreamt of becoming the man of destiny during the Second World War. His career stirs the curiosity of historians, and fortunately this curiosity can be satisfied.”