Lloyd was born in Webb, Saskatchewan on July 16, 1913. He initially studied engineering, but due to the Great Depression, switched his studies to teaching and graduated with a BA from the University of Saskatchewan in 1936. He started teaching school that year, and eventually became a school principal in the early 1940s at Stewart Valley, Vanguard and Biggar. He was also active in the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation and held many positions in the organization including the presidency from 1940 to 1944. He also served on the University of Saskatchewan's Senate, and was the president of the Saskatchewan Educational Conference in the early 1940s.
Douglas government 1944—1961
In 1944, Woodrow Lloyd was elected to the Saskatchewan Legislature as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation member for the constituency of Biggar, a seat he held until his retirement in 1971. Lloyd became the youngest cabinet minister in Saskatchewan history, up to that point, when he was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Education by new Premier, Tommy Douglas. Lloyd served as Minister of Education for the next sixteen years and oversaw the complete overhaul of the Saskatchewan education system. The most controversial measure he introduced was the amalgamation of over 5000 of Saskatchewan's local school boards into 56 larger school units in 1944–1945. The measure was instituted to create more equitable educational opportunities for students across the province by providing students greater opportunity to receive instruction by specialized teachers and access to increased education resources, including provincial grants. However, the move was opposed by some in rural Saskatchewan who resented the loss of local control over schools, as the move to large school units resulted in the closure of nearly all rural one-room schools over the next two decades. After the 1960 election Douglas appointed Lloyd the Provincial Treasurer. In 1961 Douglas resigned as Premier to assume the leadership of the newly formed federal New Democratic Party. Lloyd was elected leader of what was now called the Saskatchewan CCF-NDP, easily defeating Olaf Turnbull.
As Premier, Lloyd was responsible for implementing the universal health care plan that Douglas had introduced. Lloyd's government had to cope with the July 1962 Saskatchewan doctors' strike, when the province's physicians withdrew service in an attempt to defeat the Medicare initiative. Lloyd and his government refused to back down on the concept of a universal public health care system, and persuaded the doctors to settle after 23 days. While Medicare was implemented, the political turmoil did lasting damage to the Lloyd government, contributing to its defeat at the hands of Ross Thatcher's Saskatchewan Liberal Party in the 1964 provincial election. Medicare was later extended to all provinces and territories in Canada as a result of the Saskatchewan experiment. Lloyd was the first Premier of Saskatchewan to have been born in the province after its accession to confederation in 1905.
Post-premier career
After his government's defeat, Lloyd became Leader of the Opposition, a post he held until 1970 when Allan Blakeney was elected leader of the Saskatchewan NDP. On his retirement, Douglas gave him the ultimate compliment, saying that Lloyd was "the conscience of the government and the conscience of the party." After retirement from the Saskatchewan Legislature in 1971, Lloyd was appointed as representative for the United Nations Development Program in South Korea. However just months after assuming this post, he died suddenly in Seoul, South Korea.
