Lloyd George introduced his radical budget of 1909 with a speech to Parliament on 29th April, in which he proposed a large increase in the tax burdens on the landed class to pay for social reforms. The Conservatives were strongly opposed to the budget but the size of the Liberal majority following the 1906 landslide meant that it was the Conservative majority in the House of Lords which rejected it, leading to two general elections in 1910 and a constitutional crisis.

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Extract from the report of the National Union’s Central Council to the annual Party conference, 17th November, 1909 [shelfmark: NUA 2/1/29]