Let's not forget that Lloyd George oversaw a complete overhaul of our system of government, ushering in major changes that we are still living with today.
Before the war of course he ushered in labour exchanges (the first iteration of Jobcentre Plus) which brought government into the regions, pensions and national insurance. It was Lloyd George's vision of a total war economy that would extend government intervention further through the Ministry of Munitions, against the conventional wisdom of the age. As A.J.P Taylor noted in his famous lecture:
"Any other man would have quailed at starting a Ministry of Munitions from scratch. Lloyd George rejoiced that when he entered the requisitioned hotel allotted to the new ministry, it contained a table, two chairs, many mirrors - and no civil servants. Alone among Liberal ministers, he appreciated that the War could not be conducted on the basis of laissez-faire."
He brought in irregulars and businessmen - being the first to establish that the Civil Service should be a managerial as well as purely a judicial and regulative body advising ministers (although the balance is still being struck!). He brought employers and trade unions into government, bringing Whitehall far closer to society (perhaps too close to special interests, as Thatcher's government would redress). The size of government ballooned and has remained high ever since. And of course the innovation of the Cabinet Office and Cabinet Secretary, the Cabinet minutes, and the rise of Treasury spending control, which for better or for worse, have given government much needed cohesion.
Churchill's wartime government, with its various command ministries (Supply, Labour) was almost entirely inherited from the blueprint of Lloyd George's wartime government - and it was Lloyd George's Cabinet Secretary Maurice Hankey who admitted as much as he drew up the initial plans for wartime mobilisation after the German occupation of the Rhineland.
Changes in the machinery of government are often overlooked because they're not explicitly political, but they're often far more important than the hot political conflicts of the day. We'd probably end up with a more centralised interventionist government if Lloyd George had never been PM due to the demands of war and society changing, but it was his energy and drive that saw it through.
Before the war of course he ushered in labour exchanges (the first iteration of Jobcentre Plus) which brought government into the regions, pensions and national insurance. It was Lloyd George's vision of a total war economy that would extend government intervention further through the Ministry of Munitions, against the conventional wisdom of the age. As A.J.P Taylor noted in his famous lecture:
"Any other man would have quailed at starting a Ministry of Munitions from scratch. Lloyd George rejoiced that when he entered the requisitioned hotel allotted to the new ministry, it contained a table, two chairs, many mirrors - and no civil servants. Alone among Liberal ministers, he appreciated that the War could not be conducted on the basis of laissez-faire."
He brought in irregulars and businessmen - being the first to establish that the Civil Service should be a managerial as well as purely a judicial and regulative body advising ministers (although the balance is still being struck!). He brought employers and trade unions into government, bringing Whitehall far closer to society (perhaps too close to special interests, as Thatcher's government would redress). The size of government ballooned and has remained high ever since. And of course the innovation of the Cabinet Office and Cabinet Secretary, the Cabinet minutes, and the rise of Treasury spending control, which for better or for worse, have given government much needed cohesion.
Churchill's wartime government, with its various command ministries (Supply, Labour) was almost entirely inherited from the blueprint of Lloyd George's wartime government - and it was Lloyd George's Cabinet Secretary Maurice Hankey who admitted as much as he drew up the initial plans for wartime mobilisation after the German occupation of the Rhineland.
Changes in the machinery of government are often overlooked because they're not explicitly political, but they're often far more important than the hot political conflicts of the day. We'd probably end up with a more centralised interventionist government if Lloyd George had never been PM due to the demands of war and society changing, but it was his energy and drive that saw it through.