The Marconi Scandal

The Marconi scandal of 1912–1913 was a major political crisis in which senior Liberal ministers were accused of profiting from a government contract for an imperial wireless network. The controversy arose after Postmaster-General Herbert Samuel negotiated the contract with the British Marconi Company, managed by Godfrey Isaacs, brother of Attorney-General Sir Rufus Isaacs; while the contract itself was not corrupt, it later emerged that Rufus Isaacs, Chancellor David Lloyd George, and the Chief Whip, the Master of Elibank, had bought shares in the American Marconi Company, prompting accusations of using privileged information. The affair worsened when the ministers denied in Parliament holding British Marconi shares while concealing their American investments, and it was further inflamed by anti-Semitic attacks in the Eye Witness. A Parliamentary Select Committee ultimately cleared the ministers of corruption despite a critical minority report, and Prime Minister H. H. Asquith supported his colleagues, while Winston Churchill forcefully denied any involvement and worked behind the scenes to curb press hostility.