The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion

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home > Transactions > Volume 32 - 2026 > THE WARTIME WELFARE CAMPAIGNS OF MARGARET LLOYD GEORGE, 1914–1918

THE WARTIME WELFARE CAMPAIGNS OF MARGARET LLOYD GEORGE, 1914–1918

In the first week of August 1914, Britain sprang into war fever, action and debate, and Wales was no exception. Even the day before the First World War was declared, gunboats had arrived in Cardigan Bay on Bank Holiday Monday to rally public confidence. But whilst wars have to be won on the high seas and battlefields, they also have to be won at home. A cabinet committee was charged ‘to advise on the measures necessary to deal with any distress that may arise in consequence of the war’, calling on local authorities to set up local committees to oversee local relief work. Two days later, the Labour Party issued its twelve-point manifesto for protecting working class interests. Lloyd George’s 1909 Budget had taken the lead in creating Britain’s welfare state, but Labour was steadily competing for the mantle of champion of social reform. Formal political party warfare may have been set aside during wartime, but the issues did not go into hibernation.

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