Herbert Asquith

Herbert Henry Asquith (1852–1928) was a British Liberal politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. Educated at Balliol College, Oxford, he trained as a barrister before entering Parliament in 1886 as MP for East Fife. Asquith held senior offices including Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer, and as prime minister led a reforming government associated with measures such as the Parliament Act 1911 and early welfare legislation. His premiership was dominated by the First World War, and he was succeeded by David Lloyd George. Asquith’s speeches and political writings remain widely quoted.