William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, KCB was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services served as the basis for the welfare state put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945.
He built his career as an expert on unemployment insurance. He served on the Board of Trade as Director of the newly created labour exchanges, and later as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Food. He was Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1919 until 1937, when he was elected Master of University College, Oxford.
Beveridge published widely on unemployment and social security, his most notable works being: Unemployment: A Problem of Industry, Planning Under Socialism, Full Employment in a Free Society, Pillars of Security, Power and Influence and A Defence of Free Learning. He was elected in a 1944 by-election as a Liberal MP; following his defeat in the 1945 general election, he was elevated to the House of Lords where he served as the leader of the Liberal peers.