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A century ago Herbert Asquith, the Prime Minister since 1908, was forced to resign amid mounting criticism of his wartime leadership.

He was replaced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, who’d won acclaim for boosting shell production as the newly-created Munitions Minister in 1915.

Born in Manchester to Welsh parents and brought up as a Welsh-speaker David Lloyd George is the only Prime Minister to have been Welsh and to have spoken English as a second language.

He was also the last Liberal Prime Minister of Britain serving as MP for Caernarvon Boroughs from 1890 to 1945.

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As Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1908 Lloyd George was a key figure in the introduction of many reforms which laid the foundations of the modern welfare state.

Historians believe his most important role came as the highly energetic Prime Minister of the Wartime Coalition Government from 1916 until 1922.

He was a major player at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 that reordered Europe after the defeat of the Central Powers.

READ MORE: World War I: How Lloyd George rose to power at the height of battle

David Lloyd George arguably made a greater impact on British public life than any other 20th-century leader, thanks to his pre-war introduction of Britain’s social welfare system, his leadership in winning the war, his post-war role in reshaping Europe, and his partitioning of Ireland.

Politicians today from all across the political spectrum continue to pay tribute to his work 100 years ago.

Lord Dafydd Wigley followed Lloyd George as MP for the constituency which had been retitled Caernarfon by 1974.

Speaking after a lunch at the National Liberal Club where another former Prime Minister, John Major, was guest speaker Mr Wigley said: “David Lloyd George represented Caernarfon for 54 years. I managed exactly half of that – 27 years. He clearly had greater staying power than me!

“Lloyd George also knew my grandmother! She was President of the Pwllheli Women Liberals Association for 11 years at the timer when Lloyd George was MP for the Caernarfon Boroughs seat which included Pwllheli.

“It was a case of Lloyd George knew my grand-mother – in a totally respectable way, of course!”

The effects of Lloyd George were long lasting the former President of Plaid Cymru added.

“In my early days as MP, back in the 1970s, an old lady came into my Caernarfon office.

“I have a problem with Lloyd George’s money” she told me.

“I was a little perplexed: was she a beneficiary of his will? Was she one of Lloyd George’s lady-friends? Had he been paying her off for some special favour?

“Then, as she elaborated, the penny dropped: she had a problem with her pension! The old people, even at that time – sixty years after Lloyd George’s famous People’s Budgets which first brought in an old-age pension, still referred to it as “Pres Lloyd George” –Lloyd George’s money. That says so much about the massive significance of those radical social changes which still carried his name.”

READ MORE:Lloyd George's birthday celebrated at late Prime Minister's grave in Llanystumdwy

Addressing the meeting Mr Wigley said Lloyd George was an inspirer of Prime Ministers.

“When Prime Minister John Major came to open the then Euro-DPC (now Siemens) factory at Llanberis in S1992, I asked him what he would like as a souvenir of the visit.

“He immediately told me the ideal momento would be a Lloyd George commemorative mug or plate. It was then that I came to realize how much inspiration John Major had received from his predecessor – both as Chancellor and as Prime Minister – the Welsh wizard from Llanystumdwy.”

Mark Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and MP for Ceredigion, said: “David Lloyd George remains one of the most iconic figures in Welsh political life, providing the country much needed leadership during the First World War, but I also reflect on his earlier work as a reformer committed to social justice.

“This meant laying the ground work for the national insurance system through his People’s Budget and standing up to the unelected in the House of Lords. It speaks volumes that he was repeatedly elected again and again and served the people of the Caernarvon Boroughs for 54 years uninterrupted, a record in itself.”

The Caernarfon Borough seat is now represented by Plaid Cymru MPs Hywel Williams (Arfon) and Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd).

Mr Williams said: “Lloyd George was one of the most significant figures of 20th century politics. He led Great Britain during the darkest days of the First World War, to final victory and then on to the International Peace Conference and the establishment of the League of Nations.

“But before that, as Chancellor, he had secured significant social reforms, laying the basis of the welfare state. Even earlier he led Cymru Fydd. That national movement failed. But its campaign was one of the many foundations of our National Assembly.

“Lloyd George’s reputation has been overshadowed by later controversies and conflicts, such as the long running Troubles following partition in Ireland, and by Churchill’s outstanding leadership during the Second World War. But this centenary is a welcome opportunity to look again and celebrate his many great achievements.”

READ MORE: £250,000 appeal launched to mark David Lloyd George centenary

Liz Saville Roberts added: “I’m very aware of the honour to be representing communities that previously returned such a towering figure in British politics as Lloyd George.

“We owe to him aspects of the welfare state such as unemployment and sickness benefits, and he oversaw the first moves to allow women to vote in parliamentary elections.

“He was the first and only Welsh speaker to serve as Prime Minister, and the last Liberal to do so. The fact that people still find Lloyd George both inspirational and controversial is perhaps the most revealing aspect of his legacy.”

Who was David Lloyd George?

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Born in Manchester on January 17 1863 his father died a year later and his mother took her two children to live with her brother, Richard, in Llanystumdwy near Criccieth.

An intelligent child, Lloyd George performed well at school, leaving to train as a solicitor, and was articled by the Law Society in January 1879 and later established his own practice in Criccieth.

READ MORE: Lloyd George museum gets reprieve in UK budget

As a poacher’s lawyer, or a lawyer willing to defend those that broke harsh poaching laws, Lloyd-George acquired a loyal following among north Wales tenant farmers and quarrymen.

Lloyd George married Margaret Owen, the daughter of a wealthy farmer, in 1888. A non-conformist, he worshipped at the Disciples of Christ Chapel in Criccieth, where he honed his skills as an orator.

After joining the Liberal Party and becoming an alderman on Caernarvon (sic) County Council, Lloyd George took part in numerous elections, campaigning for an end to church titles, and for land reform.

Despite a reputation as a womaniser Lloyd George remained married to Margaret until her death in January 1941. Two years later, aged 80, he married his secretary and mistress, Frances Stevenson.

His son Gwilym, and daughter, Megan, both followed him into politics and were elected members of parliament.

They were politically faithful to their father throughout his life but after 1945, each drifted away from the Liberal Party, Gwilym finishing his career as a Conservative while Megan became a Labour MP in 1957.

Churchill invited Lloyd George, also an opponent of appeasement, to join the war cabinet in 1940, but he declined on grounds of age and health.

He died of cancer in March 1945 and was buried beside the river Dwyfor in Llanystumdwy.

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