David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of DwyforOMPC(17 January 1863– 26 March 1945) was aBritishLiberalpolitician and statesman. He wasPrime Minister of the United Kingdomand led aWartime CoalitionGovernment between 1916 and 1922 and was theLeader of the Liberal Partyfrom 1926 to 1931. During a long tenure of office, mainly as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he was a key figure in the introduction of many reforms which laid the foundations of the modern welfare state. He was the last Liberal to serve as Prime Minister, his coalition premiership being supported more by Conservatives than by his own Liberals, and the subsequent split was a key factor in the decline of the Liberal Party as a serious political force thereafter. After 1922 he was a marginalised and widely mistrusted figure.