... war heralded their death. Many historians believe that at the outbreak of the war the Liberals had become an irrelevance. Others such as, Wilson believe that Liberalism was still strong in 1914 but then it was knocked down by a 'rampant omnibus' - the war, from which it never recovered. In the December 1910 election the Liberals had 272 MPs; after the 'Coupon election' and the split in the party Asquith's section had 28, Lloyd George's had 133. From these figures it can be seen what a massive impact the war had on the party. Asquith did not prove to be an effective war time leader. He was dilatory and there was a sense of drift and conflict in the Cabinet. Asquith took the only option which would undermine Conservative opposition and invited them to join a coalition government, ending the last Liberal government. Decisions were still slow however and ...

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