Herbert Henry Asquith was born in Morley, West Yorkshire on 12 September 1852. His father was a wool merchant. Educated at Oxford, Asquith became a lawyer and in 1886 Liberal member of parliament for East Fife. He quickly made his mark and in 1892 Gladstone appointed him home secretary. Out of office for a decade from 1895, he returned to his legal career. In 1906, the Liberals returned to power and the prime minister, Henry Campbell-Bannerman appointed Asquith chancellor of the exchequer.

Early in April 1908 Campbell-Bannerman resigned and died some days later. Asquith became prime minister. At this time the key problems confronting him at home was the opposition of the House of Lords and the radicals in his own party. In 1909 Lloyd George purposed a radical budget to increase money for the naval expenses, the budget was shot down by the House of Lords. In 1910 he announced a plan to limit the powers of the House of Lords; The resulting Parliament Act, passed in August 1911, ended the Lords’ veto power over financial legislation passed by the House of Commons. This made an impact on British politics as Asquith got rid of the opposition of the house of lords which then enabled him to pass his reforms, this was also good for parties that came after his. The three years between this episode and the outbreak of World War I were extremely harassing for Asquith. Abroad, the international situation deteriorated rapidly; at home, controversy was caused the conflict between Home