Was Asquith one of our few principled ex-Prime Ministers?

I have no idea. I only ask the question with respect to his post-PM retirement. As part of a full page article on Tony Blair's pension fund top-up activities (dominated by a photograph which shows how that fund is benefiting his dental work), there is a panel about past Prime Ministers and what they did post-Number Ten.

The ones chronicled (Wilson, Heath, Thatcher, Major) all cashed in on their reputation (Wilson was perhaps not as successful as the rest).

The exception listed is Herbert Asquith who pursued some journalism and memoir writing, but died with very little left in his estate. Indeed, in his later years, his friends organised a whip-round via the Times, because he was in such straitened circumstances.

Perhaps, old "Squiffy" was one of our few ex-PMs who didn't lower himself to selling his reputations to the highest bidder. Or perhaps some historical sage will tell me that he couldn't or was too "squiffy" or that there is some other reason for my theory to be bunkum.