With the fall of Arthur Balfour's Conservative government in the United Kingdom in December 1905, the Liberals under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman were called in to form a government. In the subsequent election, the Liberals won an enormous majority. Campbell-Bannerman was succeeded by Herbert Henry Asquith in 1908. Although the government lost a great deal of support by the two general elections of 1911, they managed to hold on by dint of support from the Irish Nationalists. After early mismanagement during the First World War, particularly the failure of the Gallipoli Expedition , Asquith was forced to bring the Unionists into the government in a coalition.

Source: Butler, David and Gareth Butler. Twentieth Century British Political Facts, 1900-2000. (St. Martin's, 2000)