The budget of 1909, the so-called People’s Budget, was issued by the Liberal chancellor and future prime minister, David Lloyd George. Rarely can a budget have been so controversial. It prompted two general elections in 1910 and a clash between the House of Commons and the House of Lords — the very power of Parliament was up for debate.
The 1906 election saw Herbert Asquith’s Liberal Party seize power. This was a significant victory, not least because of the new philosophy of government intervention that the Liberals brought with them. Influenced by the studies of poverty by Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree, the Liberals openly challenged the laissez-faire Victorian approach to social problems. They argued that it was the responsibility of the state to aid people who suffered from poor health, unemployment, or a lack of education. The following 8 years saw a large quantity of social welfare legislation designed to help pull people out of poverty, thus establishing the foundations of today’s welfare state.
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