Asquith resigns as Prime Minister

Westminster, 6 December 1916 - The British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith has resigned. He travelled to Buckingham Palace shortly after 7pm yesterday and spent 30 minutes with King George V.

This is the latest incident in the political crisis which has been bubbling in Westminster over the last number of days: a public disagreement between two senior government ministers over war policy. Mr Lloyd George has made no secret of his view that a much more vigorous handling of affairs was necessary for the achievement of victory in the war. Mr Asquith on the other hand, in a speech earlier this week, stated clearly that though he acknowledge a restructuring of the cabinet might be required, he had no intention of a changing policy.

The coalition government formed in 1915 including Winston Churchill, Andrew Bonar Law, Lord Kitchener, Herbert Asquith, David Lloyd George, Edward Grey, Augustine Birrell, Edward Carson and Lord Lansdowne. (Image: Illustrated London News [London, England], 5 June 1915)

Rumours  yesterday, seemed to indicate that it was Mr Lloyd George who would make way, however subsequent events have proved these false.

The Irish Independent sees these developments as a victory for Lloyd George and for the country:

‘It is said that an agreement was near being reached on Sunday, but on Monday Mr Lloyd George was again in an uncompromising frame of mind. Yesterday the statement… was published that Mr Asquith had definitely declined a proposal for the formation of a War Council of which he would not be a member. That, in effect, was his ultimatum to the Secretary of War, who had machined the crisis. Mr Lloyd George laid down conditions which the Premier could not accept without humiliation, and the war minister knew it. He had counted his forces and calculated his chances in a tussle for the mastery. He has overthrown his old leader, and that is perhaps the most grateful triumph of his strenuous career.’

The King has invited Andrew Bonar Law, leader of the Conservative Party, to form a new government.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]