Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield

The Right Honourable Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC (21 December, 1804 – 19 April, 1881) was a British statesman and literary figure. He served in government for three decades, twice as Prime Minister – the first and thus far only person of Jewish descent to do so, although Disraeli was baptized in the Anglican Church at an early age. Disraeli's most lasting achievement was the creation of the modern Conservative Party after the Corn Laws schism of 1846.

Political career

Disraeli had been considering a political career as early as 1830, before he departed England for the Mediterranean. His first real efforts, however, did not come until 1832, during the great crisis over the Reform Bill, when he contributed to an anti-Whig pamphlet edited by Croker and published by Murray entitled England and France: or a cure for Ministerial Gallomania. The choice of a Tory publication was regarded as odd if not offensive by Disraeli's friends and relatives, who thought him more of a Radical. Indeed, Disraeli had objected to Murray about Croker inserting "high Tory" sentiment, writing that "it is quite impossible that anything adverse to the general measure of Reform can issue from my pen." Further, at the time Gallomania was published, Disraeli was in fact electioneering in High Wycombe in the Radical interest. Disraeli's politics at the time were influenced both by his rebellious streak and by his desire to make his mark. In the early 1830s the Tories and the interests they represented appeared to be a lost cause. The other great party, the Whigs, was apparently anathema to Disraeli: "Toryism is worn out & I cannot condescend to be a Whig."

Related Topics:
1830 - Mediterranean - 1832 - Reform Bill - Whig - Radical - High Wycombe - 1830s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Though he initially stood for election, unsuccessfully, as a Radical, Disraeli was a progressive Tory by the time he won a seat in the House of Commons in 1837 representing the constituency of Maidstone. Disraeli was sympathetic to some of the demands of the Chartists and argued for an alliance between the landed aristocracy and the working class against the increasing power of the middle class helping found the Young England group in 1842 to promote the view that the rich should use their power to protect the poor from exploitation by the middle class. Throughout his career Disraeli would seek alliances between the Conservatives and Radicals, to little avail.

Related Topics:
Tory - House of Commons - 1837 - Maidstone - Chartists - Young England - 1842

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel passed over Disraeli when putting together his Cabinet in 1841 and Disraeli gradually became a sharp critic of Peel's government. In Parliament, Disraeli became known for his defense of the protectionist Corn Laws, in opposition to fellow Conservative Peel's advocacy of free trade, which Disraeli denounced as "laissez-faire capitalism". The end of 1845 and the first months of 1846 were dominated by the battle in parliament between the free traders and the protectionists. Disraeli lost the fight, but the repeal of the Corn Laws came at great political cost as the Conservative Party split in half. Peel and his followers, known as Peelites, moved towards the Whigs, while the new Conservative Party formed around the protectionists, led by Disraeli, Lord George Bentinck, and Lord Stanley (later Lord Derby).

Related Topics:
Prime Minister - Sir Robert Peel - Cabinet - 1841 - Protectionist - Corn Laws - Laissez-faire - Peelites - Whigs - Lord George Bentinck - Lord Stanley

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In Office

In 1852 Lord Derby appointed Disraeli Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons in the (in)famous Who? Who? Ministry. Due to a combination of bad timing and a lack of experience, Disraeli's first Budget was a failure. His duel, nonetheless, with William Ewart Gladstone over the Budget marked the beginning of thirty years of parliamentary hostility. Derby's government fell after a few months and Disraeli left government; Gladstone succeeded him as Chancellor (and was far more successful in that position). In 1858, Derby returned to the office of the Prime Minister and again appointed Disraeli his Chancellor of the Exchequer and government leader of the House of Commons (as the Prime Minister sat in the House of Lords) with responsibilities to introduce reforms to parliament but his reforms would have disenfranchised some voters in the towns and were opposed by the Liberals and defeated. The ministry fell in 1859 and Disraeli returned to the opposition bench until 1866 when he again became Chancellor of the Exchequer and government leader in the House of Commons.

Related Topics:
1852 - Lord Derby - Chancellor of the Exchequer - Leader of the House of Commons - Who? Who? Ministry - William Ewart Gladstone - 1858 - House of Lords - 1859 - Opposition bench - 1866

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After engineering the defeat of a Liberal Reform Bill introduced by Gladstone in 1866, Disraeli and Derby introduced their own measure in 1867. This was primarily a political strategy designed to give Conservatives control of the reform process and thereby long term benefits in the Commons, similar to those derived by the Whigs after the 1832 Reform Act. The Reform Act of 1867 extended the franchise by 1,500,000 by giving the vote to male householders and male lodgers paying at least 10 pounds for rooms and eliminating rotten boroughs with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants and granting constituencies to fifteen unrepresented towns and extra representation in parliament to larger towns such as Liverpool and Manchester, which had previously been underrepresented in Parliament. This act was unpopular with the right-wing of the Conservative Party, most notably Lord Cranborne (later the Marquess of Salisbury), who resigned from the government and spoke against the bill. Cranborne, however, was unable to lead a rebellion similar to that which Disraeli had led against Peel twenty years earlier.

Related Topics:
Reform Act of 1867 - Rotten borough - Parliament - Lord Cranborne

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Prime Minister

Derby's health had been declining for some time and he finally resigned as Prime Minister in late February of 1868; he would live on for another twenty months. Disraeli's efforts over the past two years had dispelled, for the time being, any doubts about him succeeding Derby as leader of the Conservative Party and therefore Prime Minister. As Disraeli remarked, "I have climbed to the top of the greasy pole." However, the Conservatives were still a minority in the House of Commons, and the enaction of the Reform Bill required the calling of new election. Disraeli's term as Prime Minister would therefore be fairly short, unless the Conservatives won the general election. He made only two changes in the cabinet: he replaced Lord Chelmsford as Lord Chancellor with Lord Cairns, and brought in George Ward Hunt as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Disraeli and Chelmsford had never gotten along particularly well, and Cairns, in Disraeli's view, was a far stronger minister.

Related Topics:
1868 - Lord Chelmsford - Lord Chancellor - Lord Cairns - George Ward Hunt - Chancellor of the Exchequer

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

However, in the election that followed, William Gladstone and the Liberals were returned to power with a majority of 170. After six years in opposition, Disraeli and the Conservative Party won the election giving the party its first absolute majority in the House of Commons since the 1840s. Disraeli's government introduced various reforms such as the Artisans Dwellings Act (1875), the Public Health Act (1875), the Pure Food and Drugs Act (1875), the Climbing Boys Act (1875), the Education Act (1876). His government also introduced a new Factory Act meant to protect workers, the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act (1875) to allow peaceful picketing and the Employers and Workmen Act (1878) to enable workers to sue employers in the civil courts if they broke legal contracts.

Related Topics:
Election - Election - Majority - 1840s - 1875 - 1876 - Factory Act - 1878

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Disraeli was a staunch British imperialist and helped strengthen the British Empire with his support for the construction of the Suez Canal. He also achieved a diplomatic success at the Congress of Berlin in 1878 in limiting the growing influence of Russia in the Balkans and breaking up the League of the Three Emperors. However, difficulties in South Africa and Afghanistan weakened his government and likely led to his party's defeat in the 1880 election.

Related Topics:
Imperialist - British Empire - Suez Canal - Congress of Berlin - 1878 - Russia - Balkan - League of the Three Emperors

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was elevated to the House of Lords in 1876 when Queen Victoria made him Earl of Beaconsfield. He remained Prime Minister until 1880 when the Conservatives were defeated by William Gladstone's Liberals in that year's general election. Disraeli became ill soon after and died in April 1881. His literary executor and for all intents and purposes his heir was his private secretary, Lord Rowton.

Related Topics:
1876 - Queen Victoria - Earl of Beaconsfield - 1880 - William Gladstone - 1881 - Lord Rowton

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~