What if, in Winter 1918/19, i.e. after the Armistice of Compiegne and the UK General elections, but before the Paris Peace Conference convenes, David Lloyd George dies and Bonar Law succeeds him as Prime Minister... Specifically, I am interested in how British foreign policy regarding the Middle East would change or stay the same?
WI: British Middle Eastern Policy under Bonar Law?
- Thread starter Salvador79
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Well, there's one theory saying that Whitehall was such an independent Hydra that a change in Downing Street 10 would not change the fundamentals. But then again, whether Law leads a Tory-only cabinet or continues the coalition, there is a high chance that in the shuffles Somebody other than Balfour ends up as Foreign Secretary.
Against this theory, one needs to Imagine Law in Paris, and that would definitely Change things. The staunch Unionist and imperial preference tariff proponent would Not get along very Well with Wilson, for one thing.
But as for how Law got along with all the British Mandarins and the (warring) local allies in Arabia, I don't know and would like input. We know He was skeptical of the Milner Plan and yet accepted it. Anything else, and especially earlier? I have No idea and had hoped someone else would...!
raharris1973
Gone Fishin'
On a completely unserious note, Has there been a British pornstar named after this politician?
Deleted member 94680
Wouldn't a Liberal politician be PM? For Bonar Law to be PM, you'd need a General Election. Likely Liberals would be Chamberlain, Milner or Balfour.
Not really, in 1918 the Conservatives won a majority in the election so didn't even need the coalition to govern. Also Chamberlain and Balfour were not Liberals while Milner didn't affiliate with a party and other than Lloyd George I can't see another Liberal leading the coalition considering the Tories had around three times as many seats as the Coalition Liberals.
As to the actual question, I don't know much but using the Chanak Crisis as a guide I would say Bonar Law would follow a less belligerent policy than Lloyd George. What that would entail I can't say.
Deleted member 94680
They had more seats but they were part of the Coalition. Also, winning more seats doesn’t technically make you the ruling party. The Monarch still has to invite you to form a government. Traditionally (in the modern age at least) having the most seats means the King will invite BL to form a government, but the people have voted for DLG’s coalition. Would this be a constitutional crisis? Would we need a second election? Or would the MPs of the Coalition sort it out amongst themselves?
Very good points and I have no idea what I was doing when I said they were.
Lloyd George's rashness resulted in the calling of a meeting of Conservative MPs at the Carlton Club on 19 October 1922, which passed a motion that the Conservative Party should fight the next general election as an independent party. This decision had dire ramifications for Lloyd George, as the Conservative Party made up the vast majority of the 1918–1922 post-war coalition. Indeed, they could have made up the majority government if it were not for the coalition.
...
Following the Carlton Club decision, the MPs voted 185 to 85 for ending the Coalition. Lloyd George resigned as Prime Minister, never to return to cabinet level politics. The Conservatives, under returned party leader Bonar Law, subsequently won the general election with an overall majority.
I was trying to say that if the Conservatives decided they wanted Bonar Law as PM, they could make it happen as they had the majority of seats in Parliament. Bonar Law could then choose to hold an election to strengthen his own mandate but he wouldn't have to. The Liberals could either get on board or leave the Coalition.
The point I was trying to make (which in retrospect I may not have made very clear) is that Chanak would be an example of what the Conservatives would not do as it caused them to break the coalition.
Wasn’t that the leadership race that Austen Chamberlain lost due to opposing breaking up the coalition? If Loyd George dies before the coalition breaks up, wouldn’t Austen still be the party leader?