Sunday 18 November 2018

Sunday Snap – The Welsh Prime Minister

We were remembering the 100th anniversary of the Armistice with last week's Sunday Snap of the War Leader. I asked who the famous prime minister was and the answer is

Sir Winston Churchill

Raising two fingers to victory with the right answer were Susan, Minoru, Lisa and Anne.

This week we go from one war leader to another. Both of these statues are on Palace Green by the Houses of Parliament where a selection of statues of the great and good have been gathered together. Although this prime minister was known as a very proud Welshman he was in fact born in Manchester. His father was a teacher but died when his son was just 18 months old. His mother decided to return to her native Wales and her son grew up with Welsh being his first language.

When war was declared in 1914 he was the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1909 he had introduced the 'People's Budget' which increased taxes on death, high incomes, luxuries plus alcohol and tobacco. This was used to fund new welfare benefits such as the Old Age Pension that had been introduced a year before and also new battleships.

In 1915 he became the Minister of Munitions – a newly created position. When Lord Kitchener died in 1916 he succeeded him as Secretary of State for War. In September the Prime Minister's own son, Raymond Asquith, was killed in battle. It left him devastated and with the war not going well for him his own cabinet members were plotting his downfall. By December Asquith had resigned and replaced as prime minister by his War Secretary.

The war rumbled on for another two years. However, in April 1917 the Americans joined the Allied Forces. The added manpower against the diminishing German forces led the Allies to victory and the signing of the Armistice on 11th November 1918. He continued as prime minister until his resignation in 1922. He remains to this day the last Liberal prime minister of the country.

He was known for his many relationships with women. Despite being married to his wife Margaret for 53 years and having five children with her he still maintained a mistress. After Margaret's death in 1941 he married Frances Stevenson in 1943. By then he was 80 years old. He first met Stevenson in 1910 and she had been a teacher for his daughter before becoming his secretary. Eighteen months after his second marriage he died. This week's question is

Who was the Welsh Prime Minister?

We were joined last week by Susan with some leaf throwing. In Japan Minoru has also been on the hunt for some autumn leaves. Lisa paid another visit to Golan. At the end of the wonky path Anne found the wonky door. In San Diego Tea and Cake for the Soul paid their respects at the Mt Soledad National Veterans Memorial. In Seattle's Volunteer Park Conservatory Sara found a glowing cape lighting up the night. Finally, Jesh is back in Sacramento with some interesting doors and windows.

If you want to join in with this week's Sunday Snap then add your link to the linky below. Any theme is allowed. It doesn't have to be published today as you have until 23.55 on Friday 23rd November 2018 to join in. Grab my badge below for your blog post. Just make sure it is your photo and you hold the copyright for it.
Sunday Snap

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3 comments:

  1. I have no idea on this one, sorry. It’s a lovely statue. Hope you’re well. X

    ReplyDelete
  2. We were there a couple of weeks ago - is it Lloyd George?

    ReplyDelete
  3. His name is David Lloyd George.

    ReplyDelete

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