WI: Lloyd George and Keynes die when HMS Hampshire was sunk in June 1916

The armoured cruiser HMS Hampshire was sunk when it was struck by a German mine on 5 June 1916. It was sailing to Russia. Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War was one of the many hundreds who died from drowning or exposure. What could have been the consequences if David Lloyd George and John Maynard Keynes had been on the Hampshire? Lloyd George was Minister of Munitions and Keynes was employed by the British Treasury.

This question is the subject of Chapter one of the book Prime Minister Boris and other things that never happened by Duncan Brack and Iain Dale.
 
I apologise for mistakenly posting this thread on the Before 1900 forum. Please will a mod move it to the After 1900 forum. Thank you.
 
Interesting premise and I enjoyed the book its from, imho I don't think you are going to change economics that much. Keynes was important but other people were playing around in the same general area meaning most of his ideas will be published in due course, though of course ATL "Keynesian" economics will probably be a child of many fathers which could have some effects.

As for removing Lloyld George from the scene that could have enormous effects, starting with the prosecution of the war and continuing with the demise of the Liberal Party which was not in an irretrievable position at this point. As far as the war is concerned this is probably good news as Lloyd George was an interfering micro-manager who got an awful lot wrong. As for the Liberal Party it could really go three ways, one is OTL 2rd Party status just on a different timetable. The other is the Canadian example where it secures the centre ground against Labour to the left and the Tories to the right and spends most of the rest of the century in power. Or finally where it isolates Labour as a far-left party in a similar position to the 19th century Radicals and the two party duopoly with the Tories continues.
 
Asquith's government was under mounting pressure at the time. He was losing Liberal support and the Conservatives, although reconciled to a coalition for the war's duration, increasingly demanded Asquith be replaced as Prime Minister in the wake of the Gaillipoli and Somme debacles. My first thought was that no Lloyd George would likely mean Bonar Law succeeding Asquith, if only because other (Grey, Balfour) senior figures of both main parties lacked the requisite standing.
 
A feasible choice for Secretary of State for War instead of Lloyd George would be Edwin Montagu. He was a Liberal and in OTL was Minister of Munitions from July 1916 to December 1916.

Without Lloyd George there is no Liberal challenger to Asquith for the Premiership, and it is very unlikely that Liberal MPs would consent to Bonar Law, or any other Conservative, becoming Prime Minister.
 
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