As Chancellor of the Exchequer in Campbell-Bannerman's 1906 Government, Lloyd George brought in one of the most controversial budgets of the century. He had originally been a supporter of British neutrality, but the German attack on Belgium, which led to the outbreak of the First World War, changed his mind. Lloyd George became a highly successful Minister of Munitions. In 1916 he succeeded Asquith as Prime Minister, leading Britain to victory. This oil sketch was made by Guthrie in preparation for his great commission ‘Statesmen of the Great War’.