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The Prime Ministers

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

Factual: Politics

Nick Robinson explores the history of Britain's prime ministers

BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson explores how Britain's prime ministers have used their power, responded to the challenges of their time and made the job what it is today

The Prime Ministers: Series 2

The Prime Ministers: Series 2: Episode 4: Herbert Asquith

Herbert Asquith

Episode 4

Episode 4: Herbert Asquith

Series 2

BBC Radio 4 - The Prime Ministers, Series 2, Herbert Asquith

Nick Robinson looks at how Asquith handled the top job in politics.

Nick Robinson continues his series exploring how different leaders have handled the top job in British politics. Today he looks at Asquith, prime minister from 1908 to 1916.

Nick Robinson, the BBC Political Editor, continues his series exploring how different prime ministers have used their power, have responded to the great challenges of their time and have made the job what it is today. 

The fourth of Nick's portraits in power is Herbert Asquith, who was prime minister between 1908 and 1916 - the longest uninterrupted spell in office among twentieth century prime ministers until Margaret Thatcher (1979-90). 
Asquith changed Britain by forcing through major social and constitutional reforms, but his reputation was tarnished by his refusal to give women the vote and his lack of strong leadership during the First World War. 

Born into a family who worked in the northern woollen industry, Asquith was a determined character and had a first-class brain. After his election in 1886 he soon emerged as a rising star in the Liberal Party and was appointed Home Secretary by Gladstone before he was forty. In 1906, he became Chancellor and laid the foundations of Britain's welfare state. As prime minister, Asquith presided over a talented Cabinet that included Lloyd George and Winston Churchill. Asquith backed Lloyd George over his radical 1909 budget and stood firm during the ensuing constitutional crisis, which he settled by cutting the power of the House of Lords. Although he managed to keep his Cabinet united when Britain went to war in 1914, he failed to give the strong leadership required of a war leader. His decision to enter coalition with the Conservatives and Labour in 1915 marked the beginning of his end as prime minister. In 1916, he was out-manoeuvred by Lloyd George, who succeeded him. After the war, the bitter rivalry between the two men destroyed the Liberal Party as one of Britain's two main parties.

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