Second Asquith ministry

The Second Asquith Ministry, a wartime coalition government, was formed by H. H. Asquith on 25 May 1915. The change of government resulted from attacks on the Asquith administration, and particularly on Winston Churchill, by the Conservatives in the aftermath of the Gallipoli disaster, and in the context of the Shell Crisis.^[1] The new cabinet included nine Conservatives and one Labour member, but the Liberals continued to hold most of the important posts.^[2] The Conservatives were not pleased with the offices they received and Tory leader Andrew Bonar Law became dissatisfied with Asquith and the Liberals' conduct of affairs. The government collapsed as a result of the resignation of the Conservatives, who refused to serve any longer under Asquith. Asquith and most of the Liberals then moved into opposition, while the Conservatives formed a new coalition with a minority of the Liberals, under the leadership of Liberal David Lloyd George in 1916.

List of Ministers

Members of the Cabinet are listed in bold.

Office	Name	Date	Party	Notes
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons	H. H. Asquith	25 May 1915 – 5 December 1916	Liberal
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Reginald McKenna	25 May 1915	Liberal
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury	John Gulland	30 May 1915 – 5 December 1916	Liberal	Joint Government Chief Whips in the House of Commons
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury	Lord Edmund Talbot	30 May 1915 – 5 December 1916	Conservative	Joint Government Chief Whips in the House of Commons
Financial Secretary to the Treasury	Edwin Samuel Montagu	26 May 1915	Liberal	entered cabinet 16 January 1916
Financial Secretary to the Treasury	Thomas McKinnon Wood	9 July 1916	Liberal
Junior Lords of the Treasury	Geoffrey Howard	30 May 1915 – 5 December 1916	Liberal
	George Henry Roberts	30 May 1915 – 5 December 1916	Labour
	William Bridgeman	30 May 1915 – 5 December 1916	Conservative
	Walter Rea	30 May 1915 – 5 December 1916	Liberal
Lord Chancellor	The Lord Buckmaster	25 May 1915	Liberal
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords	The Marquess of Crewe	25 May 1915	Liberal
Lord Privy Seal	The Earl Curzon of Kedleston	25 May 1915	Conservative
Secretary of State for the Home Department	Sir John Simon	25 May 1915	Liberal
Secretary of State for the Home Department	Herbert Samuel	10 January 1916	Liberal
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department	William Brace	30 May 1915	Labour
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Sir Edward Grey	25 May 1915	Liberal	created Viscount Grey of Fallodon 27 July 1916
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Lord Robert Cecil	30 May 1915	Conservative	in cabinet 23 February 1916
Secretary of State for the Colonies	Andrew Bonar Law	25 May 1915	Conservative
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies	Arthur Steel-Maitland	30 May 1915	Conservative
Secretary of State for War	The Earl Kitchener	25 May 1915
Secretary of State for War	David Lloyd George	6 July 1916	Liberal
Under-Secretary of State for War	Harold Tennant	30 May 1915	Liberal
Under-Secretary of State for War	The Earl of Derby	6 July 1916	Conservative
Financial Secretary to the War Office	Henry Forster	30 May 1915	Conservative
Secretary of State for India	Austen Chamberlain	25 May 1915	Conservative
Under-Secretary of State for India	The Lord Islington	30 May 1915	Liberal
First Lord of the Admiralty	Arthur Balfour	25 May 1915	Conservative
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty	Thomas James Macnamara	30 May 1915	Liberal
Civil Lord of the Admiralty	The Duke of Devonshire	9 June 1915	Conservative	also Joint Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords
Civil Lord of the Admiralty	The Earl of Lytton	26 July 1916	Conservative
President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries	The Earl of Selborne	25 May 1915	Conservative
President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries	The Earl of Crawford	11 July 1916	Conservative
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries	Francis Dyke Acland	30 May 1915	Liberal
Minister of Blockade	Lord Robert Cecil	23 February 1916	Conservative
President of the Board of Education	Arthur Henderson	25 May 1915	Labour
President of the Board of Education	The Marquess of Crewe	18 August 1916	Liberal	also Leader of the House of Lords
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education	Herbert Lewis	30 May 1915	Liberal
President of the Local Government Board	Walter Long	25 May 1915	Conservative
Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board	William Fisher	30 May 1915	Conservative
Chief Secretary for Ireland	Augustine Birrell	25 May 1915 – 3 May 1916	Liberal
Chief Secretary for Ireland	Henry Duke	31 July 1916	Conservative
Vice President of the Department of Agriculture for Ireland	Thomas Russell	30 May 1915	Liberal
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Winston Churchill	25 May 1915	Liberal
	Herbert Samuel	25 November 1915	Liberal
	Edwin Samuel Montagu	11 January 1916	Liberal
	Thomas McKinnon Wood	9 July 1916	Liberal
Minister of Munitions	David Lloyd George	25 May 1915	Liberal
Minister of Munitions	Edwin Samuel Montagu	9 July 1916	Liberal
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions	Christopher Addison	30 May 1915 – 8 December 1916	Liberal
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions	Arthur Lee	11 November 1915 – 9 July 1916	Conservative
Paymaster-General	The Lord Newton	9 June 1915	Conservative
Paymaster-General	Arthur Henderson	18 August 1916	Labour
Minister without Portfolio	The Marquess of Lansdowne	25 May 1915	Conservative
Postmaster-General	Herbert Samuel	26 May 1915	Liberal
Postmaster-General	Joseph Pease	18 January 1916	Liberal
Assistant Postmaster-General	Herbert Pease	30 May 1915	Conservative
Secretary for Scotland	Thomas McKinnon Wood	25 May 1915	Liberal
Secretary for Scotland	Harold Tennant	9 July 1916	Liberal
President of the Board of Trade	Walter Runciman	25 May 1915	Liberal
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade	E. G. Pretyman	30 May 1915	Conservative
First Commissioner of Works	Lewis Harcourt	25 May 1915	Liberal
Attorney-General	Sir Edward Carson	25 May 1915	Conservative
Attorney-General	Sir F. E. Smith	3 November 1915	Conservative
Solicitor-General	Sir F. E. Smith	2 June 1915	Conservative
Solicitor-General	Sir George Cave	8 November 1915	Conservative
Lord Advocate	Robert Munro	8 June 1915	Liberal
Solicitor General for Scotland	Thomas Brash Morison	8 June 1915	Liberal
Attorney General for Ireland	John Gordon	8 June 1915	Conservative
Attorney General for Ireland	James Campbell	9 April 1916	Conservative
Solicitor General for Ireland	James O'Connor	8 June 1915	Irish Nationalist
Lord Steward of the Household	The Lord Farquhar	9 June 1915	Conservative
Lord Chamberlain of the Household	The Lord Sandhurst	9 June 1915	Liberal
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household	Cecil Beck	30 May 1915	Liberal
Master of the Horse	The Earl of Chesterfield	9 June 1915	Liberal
Treasurer of the Household	James Hope	30 May 1915	Conservative
Comptroller of the Household	Charles Henry Roberts	30 May 1915	Liberal
Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms	The Lord Colebrooke	9 June 1915	Liberal	also Joint Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard	The Lord Suffield	9 June 1915	Conservative
Lords in Waiting	The Lord Herschell	9 June 1915	Liberal
	The Viscount Allendale	9 June 1915	Liberal
	The Lord Stanmore	9 June 1915	Liberal
	The Lord Ranksborough	9 June 1915	Liberal
	The Viscount Valentia	9 June 1915	Conservative
	The Lord Hylton	9 June 1915	Conservative	Joint Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords from 26 July 1916

References

↑ Rubinstein, William D. (2003). Twentieth-Century Britain: A Political History. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 78. ISBN 023062913X. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
↑ Rubinstein (2003), p. 79

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

Preceded by First Asquith Ministry	Government of the United Kingdom 1915–1916	Succeeded by Lloyd George Ministry

British governments

18th century	Godolphin–Marlborough Harley Townshend First Stanhope–Sunderland Second Stanhope–Sunderland Walpole–Townshend Walpole Carteret Broad Bottom First Newcastle Pitt–Devonshire 1757 caretaker Second Newcastle Bute Grenville First Rockingham Chatham Grafton North Second Rockingham Shelburne Fox–North Coalition First Pitt the Younger

19th century	Addington Second Pitt the Younger Ministry of All the Talents Second Portland Perceval Liverpool Canning Goderich Wellington Grey First Melbourne Wellington Caretaker First Peel Second Melbourne Second Peel First Russell Who? Who? Aberdeen First Palmerston Second Derby Second Palmerston Second Russell Third Derby First Disraeli First Gladstone Second Disraeli Second Gladstone First Salisbury Third Gladstone Second Salisbury Fourth Gladstone Rosebery Third Salisbury

20th century	Balfour Campbell-Bannerman First Asquith Second Asquith Lloyd George Bonar Law First Baldwin First MacDonald Second Baldwin Second MacDonald First National Second National Third National Fourth National Chamberlain War Churchill War Churchill Caretaker Attlee Third Churchill Eden Macmillan Douglas-Home First Wilson Heath Second Wilson Callaghan First Thatcher Second Thatcher Third Thatcher Major Blair

21st century	Brown First Cameron Second Cameron

Current ministry

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