David Lloyd George - Parliament Square, London, UK
N 51° 30.051 W 000° 07.600
30U E 699423 N 5709438
This statue, representing David Lloyd George, stand close to the north east corner of Parliament Square. A charismatic figure that is reflected in this sculpture.
Waymark Code: WMER2R
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/30/2012
Views: 23
The plinth is cut from a six tonne block of Penrhyn Heather
Blue Grey slate and is inscribed, on the front, "David / Lloyd George".
The statue, cast in bronze, was sculpted by Glyn Williams and was unveiled in
October 2007 by the Prince of Wales.
The statue is around life-size and still has the orange tinge
of bronze newness. It shows Lloyd George standing with his right foot planted
slightly ahead of his left foot with the toes of his right foot hanging over the
edge of the statue base. He is wearing a suit with the jacket unbuttoned
revealing a waistcoat that is buttoned. He is also sporting his trade mark bow
tie. His left arm is outstretched with fingers extended with the palm tilted at
about 45 degrees. He is bare headed and he is hold a hat with the fingers of his
right hand that is down by his side. Over his shoulders he has a cape that is
billowing behind him as if caught by a gust of wind.
The BBC History website (visit
link) carries a biography of Lloyd George. It reads:
"Lloyd George was one of the great reforming British
chancellors of the 20th century and prime minister from 1916 to
1922.
David Lloyd George was born in Manchester on 17 January
1863, son of a schoolmaster. His father died when he was young and his mother
took him to Wales to be raised. He became a lifelong Welsh nationalist. He
qualified as a solicitor and in 1890 was elected Liberal member of parliament
for Caernarvon, a seat he held until 1945. He quickly became known for his
radicalism and earned notoriety for his opposition to the Boer
War.
In 1905, the prime minister, Sir Henry
Campbell-Bannerman, appointed Lloyd George as president of the Board of Trade.
In 1908, he was named chancellor of the exchequer in the government of HH
Asquith. Lloyd George's 1909 budget has been called the 'people's budget' since
it provided for social insurance that was to be partly financed by land and
income taxes. The budget was rejected by the House of Lords. This, in turn, led
directly to the Parliament Act of 1911 by which the Lords lost their power of
veto.
Lloyd George remained chancellor of the exchequer
through the early years of World War One. In 1915 he was appointed minister of
munitions in Asquith's wartime coalition government. In July 1916 he became
secretary of state for war, but was increasingly critical of Asquith. In
December 1916, with the support of the Conservative and Labour leaders, he
replaced Asquith as prime minister. Lloyd George's achievements in the last two
years of the war included persuading the Royal Navy to introduce the convoy
system and the unification of the Allied military command under the French
general Ferdinand Foch.
At the successful conclusion of the war, Lloyd George
was Britain's chief delegate to the Paris Peace Conference that drafted the
Versailles Treaty. He remained prime minister, although now dependent on
Conservative support. In 1921 he secured the settlement that established the
Irish Free State. In the summer of 1922, Lloyd George was involved in a scandal
involving the selling of knighthoods and peerages. In October, the Conservatives
withdrew from the coalition over their opposition to Britain's foreign policy in
Turkey. Lloyd George resigned as prime minister.
He remained in parliament, but was marginalised
politically. In 1944 he was made Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor. He died on 26
March 1945 at Ty Newydd, Llanystumdwy, Wales."