History of the British peerage much more common. The peerage ceased to be associated with wealth or land ownership. At the beginning of the century, however, such associations remained for some time. In 1909, Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George proposed the introduction of a land tax, which the landowning peers opposed. The House of Lords rejected the budget. After the general election of January 1910, the returned government introduced the Parliament Bill, which sought to curtail the powers of the Lords. When the Lords attempted to block the bill, the prime minister, Herbert Henry Asquith, threatened to have the king create two hundred
John Smith (Chancellor of the Exchequer) he was a Commissioner for the Union with Scotland, and was the last Speaker of the House of Commons of England and after the Acts of Union 1707, became the first Speaker of the new House of Commons of Great Britain. At the 1708 general election Smith was returned unopposed as MP for Andover, and subsequently gave up his position as Speaker, when he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer again on 22 April 1708. He ceased to be Chancellor on the 11 August 1710 on the dissolution of Parliament and was returned unopposed for Andover at the 1710 general