Liberal Government 1905-1915

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With the fall of Arthur Balfour's Conservative government in the United Kingdom in December 1905, the Liberals under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman were called in to form a government. In the subsequent election, the Liberals won an enormous majority. Campbell-Bannerman was succeeded by Herbert Henry Asquith in 1908. Although the government lost a great deal of support by the two general elections of 1911, they managed to hold on by dint of support from the Irish Nationalists. After early mismanagement during the First World War, particularly the failure of the Dardanelles Campaign, Asquith was forced to bring the Unionists into the government in a coalition.

Office Name Date Notes
Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 5 December 1905  
Herbert Henry Asquith 5 April 190825 May 1915  
Chancellor of the Exchequer Herbert Henry Asquith 10 December 1905  
David Lloyd George 12 April 1908  
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury George Whiteley 12 December 1905  
Joseph Pease 3 June 1908  
Master of Elibank 14 February 1910  
Percy Holden Illingworth 7 August 1912  
John William Gulland 24 January 1915  
Financial Secretary to the Treasury Reginald McKenna 12 December 1905  
Walter Runciman 29 January 1907  
Charles Hobhouse 12 April 1908  
Thomas McKinnon Wood 23 October 1911  
Charles Masterman 13 February 1912  
Edwin Montagu 11 February 1914  
Francis Dyke Acland 3 February 1915  
Junior Lords of the Treasury Herbert Lewis 18 December 19057 July 1909  
Joseph Pease 18 December 19053 June 1908  
Freeman Freeman-Thomas 21 December 19052 February 1906  
Cecil Norton 21 December 19057 July 1909  
John Fuller 2 February 190627 February 1907  
John Henry Whitley 27 February 190720 February 1910  
Oswald Partington 7 July 190919 January 1911  
John William Gulland 7 July 190924 January 1915  
William Benn 20 February 191025 May 1915  
Ernest Joseph Soares 20 February 191016 April 1911  
Percy Holden Illingworth 28 February 19107 August 1912  
William Jones 19 January 191125 May 1915  
Frederick Guest 16 April 191121 February 1912  
Sir Arthur Haworth 23 February 191216 April 1912  
Henry Webb 16 April 191225 May 1915  
Cecil Beck 3 February 191525 May 1915  
Walter Rea 3 February 191525 May 1915  
Lord Chancellor The Lord Loreburn 10 December 1905 created Earl of Loreburn 4 July 1911
The Viscount Haldane 10 June 1912  
Lord President of the Council The Earl of Crewe 10 December 1905  
The Lord Tweedmouth 12 April 1908  
The Viscount Wolverhampton 13 October 1908  
The Earl Beauchamp 16 June 1910  
Viscount Morley of Blackburn 3 November 1910  
The Earl Beauchamp 5 August 1915  
Lord Privy Seal The Marquess of Ripon 10 December 1905  
The Earl of Crewe 9 October 1908 created Marquess of Crewe 3 July 1911
The Earl Carrington 23 October 1911  
The Marquess of Crewe 13 February 1912  
Secretary of State for the Home Department Herbert Gladstone 10 December 1905  
Winston Churchill 14 February 1910  
Reginald McKenna 23 October 1911  
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department Herbert Samuel 12 December 1905  
Charles Masterman 7 July 1909  
Ellis Griffith 19 February 1912  
Cecil Harmsworth 4 February 1915  
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Sir Edward Grey 10 December 1905  
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Lord Edmund Fitzmaurice 18 December 1905 created Lord Fitzmaurice 9 January 1906
Thomas McKinnon Wood 19 October 1908  
Francis Dyke Acland 23 October 1911  
Neil Primrose 4 February 1915  
Secretary of State for the Colonies The Earl of Elgin 10 December 1905  
The Earl of Crewe 12 April 1908  
Lewis Harcourt 3 November 1910  
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies Winston Churchill 12 December 1905  
John Seely 12 April 1908  
The Lord Lucas of Crudwell 23 March 1911  
The Lord Emmott 23 October 1911  
The Lord Islington 10 August 1915  
Secretary of State for War Richard Burdon Haldane 10 December 1905 created Viscount Haldane 27 March 1911
John Seely 12 June 1912  
Herbert Henry Asquith 30 March 1914 also Prime Minister
The Earl Kitchener 5 August 1914  
Under-Secretary of State for War The Earl of Portsmouth 12 December 1905  
The Lord Lucas of Crudwell 12 April 1908  
John Seely 23 March 1911  
Henry Tennant 14 June 1912  
Financial Secretary to the War Office Thomas Buchanan 14 December 1905  
Francis Dyke Acland 12 April 1908  
Charles Mallet 4 March 1910  
Francis Dyke Acland 31 January 1911  
Henry Tennant 25 October 1911  
Harold Trevor Baker 14 June 1912  
Secretary of State for India John Morley 10 December 1905 created Viscount Morley of Blackburn 2 May 1908
The Earl of Crewe 3 November 1910  
The Viscount Morley of Blackburn 7 March 1911  
The Earl of Crewe 25 May 1911 created Marquess of Crewe 3 July 1911
Under-Secretary of State for India John Edward Ellis 12 December 1905  
Charles Hobhouse 29 January 1907  
Thomas Buchanan 12 April 1908  
Master of Elibank 5 June 1909  
Edwin Montagu 20 February 1910  
Charles Henry Roberts 17 February 1914  
First Lord of the Admiralty The Lord Tweedmouth 10 December 1905  
Reginald McKenna 12 April 1908  
Winston Churchill 23 October 1911  
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty Edmund Robertson 12 December 1905  
Thomas Macnamara 13 April 1908  
Civil Lord of the Admiralty George Lambert 18 December 1905  
President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries The Earl Carrington 10 December 1905  
Walter Runciman 23 October 1911  
The Lord Lucas of Crudwell 6 August 1914  
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries Sir Edward Strachey 20 December 1909  
The Lord Lucas of Crudwell 23 October 1911  
Sir Harry Verney, Bt 10 August 1914  
President of the Board of Education Augustine Birrell 10 December 1905  
Reginald McKenna 23 January 1907  
Walter Runciman 12 April 1908  
Joseph Pease 23 October 1911  
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education Thomas Lough 18 December 1905  
Thomas McKinnon Wood 13 April 1908  
Sir Charles Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet 19 October 1908  
Christopher Addison 10 August 1914  
Chief Secretary for Ireland James Bryce 10 December 1905  
Augustine Birrell 23 January 1907  
Vice President of the Department of Agriculture for Ireland Sir Horace Plunkett 12 December 1905  
Thomas Russell 21 May 1907  
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Sir Henry Fowler 10 December 1905 created Viscount Wolverhampton 4 May 1908
The Lord Fitzmaurice 13 October 1908  
Herbert Samuel 25 June 1909  
Joseph Pease 14 February 1910  
Charles Hobhouse 23 October 1911  
Charles Masterman 11 February 1914  
Edwin Montagu 3 February 1915  
President of the Local Government Board John Burns 10 December 1905  
Herbert Samuel 11 February 1914  
Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board Walter Runciman 18 December 1905  
Thomas Macnamara 29 January 1907  
Charles Masterman 12 April 1908  
Herbert Lewis 7 July 1909  
Paymaster-General Richard Causton 12 December 1905  
Ivor Guest 23 February 1910 created Lord Ashby St Ledgers 15 March 1910
The Lord Strachie 23 May 1912  
Postmaster-General Sydney Buxton 10 December 1905  
Herbert Samuel 14 February 1910  
Charles Hobhouse 11 February 1914  
Assistant Postmaster-General Sir Henry Norman 3 January 1910  
Cecil Norton 20 February 1910  
Secretary for Scotland John Sinclair 12 April 1908 created Lord Pentland 15 February 1909
Thomas McKinnon Wood 13 February 1912  
President of the Board of Trade David Lloyd George 10 December 1905  
Winston Churchill 12 April 1908  
Sydney Buxton 14 February 1910  
John Burns 11 February 1914  
Walter Runciman 5 August 1914  
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade Hudson Kearley 18 December 1905 created a Baronet 22 July 1908
Henry Tennant 10 January 1909  
John Mackinnon Robertson 25 October 1911  
First Commissioner of Works Lewis Harcourt 10 December 1905 entered cabinet 27 March 1907
The Earl Beauchamp 3 November 1910  
The Lord Emmott 6 August 1914  
Attorney General Sir John Walton 12 December 1905  
Sir William Robson 28 January 1908  
Sir Rufus Isaacs 7 October 1910 entered cabinet 4 June 1912
Sir John Simon 19 October 1913  
Solicitor General Sir William Robson 12 December 1905  
Sir Samuel Evans 28 January 1908  
Sir Rufus Isaacs 6 March 1910  
Sir John Simon 7 October 1910  
Sir Stanley Buckmaster 19 October 1913  
Lord Advocate Thomas Shaw 12 December 1905  
Alexander Ure 14 February 1909  
Robert Munro 30 October 1913  
Solicitor General for Scotland Alexander Ure 18 December 1905  
Arthur Dewar 18 February 1909  
William Hunter 18 April 1910  
Andrew Anderson 3 December 1911  
Thomas Brash Morison 30 October 1913  
Attorney General for Ireland Richard Robert Cherry 20 December 1905  
Redmond John Barry 2 December 1909  
Charles Andrew O'Connor 26 September 1911  
Ignatius O'Brien 24 June 1912  
Thomas Molony 10 April 1913  
John Francis Moriarty 20 June 1913  
Jonathan Pim 1 July 1914  
Solicitor General for Ireland Redmond John Barry 20 December 1905  
Charles Andrew O'Connor 2 December 1909  
Ignatius O'Brien 19 October 1911  
Thomas Molony 24 June 1912  
John Francis Moriarty 25 April 1913  
Jonathan Pim 20 June 1913  
James O'Connor 1 July 1914  
Lord Steward of the Household The Lord Hawkesbury 18 December 1905 created Earl of Liverpool 22 December 1905
The Earl Beauchamp 31 July 1907  
The Earl of Chesterfield 22 June 1910  
Lord Chamberlain of the Household Viscount Althorp 18 December 1905 succeeded as 6th Earl Spencer 13 August 1910
The Lord Sandhurst 14 February 1912  
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household Wentworth Beaumont 18 December 1905 succeeded as 2nd Lord Allendale 13 February 1907
John Fuller 27 February 1907 created a Baronet 7 July 1910
Geoffrey Howard 6 February 1911  
Master of the Horse The Earl of Sefton 18 December 1905  
The Earl of Granard 6 September 1907  
Treasurer of the Household Sir Edward Strachey 18 December 1905  
William Dudley Ward 20 December 1909  
Frederick Edward Guest 21 February 1912  
Comptroller of the Household Master of Elibank 18 December 1905  
The Earl of Liverpool (2nd) 12 July 1909  
The Lord Saye and Sele 1 November 1912  
Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms The Earl Beauchamp 18 December 1905  
The Lord Denman 31 July 1907  
The Lord Colebrooke 26 June 1911  
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard The Duke of Manchester 18 December 1905  
The Lord Allendale 29 April 1907  
The Earl of Craven 2 October 1911  
Lords in Waiting The Lord Denman 18 December 190531 July 1907  
The Earl of Granard 18 December 190521 August 1907  
The Lord Acton 18 December 190525 May 1915  
The Earl Granville 18 December 190525 May 1915  
The Lord Hamilton of Dalzell 18 December 19052 October 1911  
The Lord Colebrooke 21 February 190626 June 1911  
The Lord Herschell 31 July 190725 May 1915  
The Lord O'Hagan 1 November 190715 April 1910  
The Lord Tweedmouth 15 April 19104 December 1911  
The Lord Willingdon 19 July 191131 January 1913  
The Viscount Allendale 2 October 191125 May 1915  
The Lord Ashby St Ledgers 31 January 19138 February 1915 succeeded as 2nd Lord Wimborne 22 February 1914
The Lord Stanmore 1 May 191425 May 1915  
The Lord Ranksborough 8 February 191525 May 1915  

Source: Butler, David and Gareth Butler. Twentieth Century British Political Facts, 1900–2000. (St. Martin's, 2000)

Preceded by:
Conservative Government 1895-1905
British Government
1905–1915
Succeeded by:
Coalition Government 1915-1916