David Lloyd George , 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor , ( 17 January 1863 -- 26 March 1945 ) was a British Liberal politician and statesman of Welsh parentage and upbringing . His most important role came as the highly energetic Prime Minister of the Wartime Coalition Government ( 1916 -- 22 ) , during and immediately after the First World War . As Prime Minister , Lloyd George favoured the Conservatives in his coalition in the 1918 elections , leaving the Liberal Party a minority . He was voted the third greatest British prime minister of the 20th century in a poll of 139 academics organised by MORI , and in 2002 he was named among the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote . The Honours ( Prevention of Abuses ) Act 1925 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , that makes the sale of peerages or any other honours illegal .
David Lloyd George was a prime minister.