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Story: Premiers and prime ministers

Ties of empire: Imperial War Cabinet

In 1917, at the height of the First World War, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George invited the New Zealand prime minister and his deputy to join the Imperial War Cabinet, thereby giving them a role in governing the British Empire. New Zealand Prime Minister William Massey is seated third from right in the front row of this official photograph. Seated fourth from right is British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, behind whom stands Massey's offsider Sir Joseph Ward.

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How to cite this page

Gavin McLean, Premiers and prime ministers – Party leadership, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/33193/ties-of-empire-imperial-war-cabinet (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Gavin McLean, published 7 May 2012, updated 1 December 2016.