William Ewart Gladstone

The Right Honourable William Ewart Gladstone (29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister (1868–1874, 1880–1885, 1886 and 1892–1894). He was a notable political reformer, known for his populist speeches, and was for many years the main political rival of Benjamin Disraeli.

The first ministry, 1868–1874

Lord Russell retired in 1867 and Gladstone became a leader of the Liberal party. In the next general election in 1868 he was defeated in Lancashire but elected as MP for Greenwich. He became Prime Minister for the first time, and remained in the office until 1874.

Related Topics:
1867 - Next general election in 1868 - Greenwich - 1874

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Gladstonian Liberalism was characterised, in the 1860s and 1870s, by a number of policies intended to improve individual liberty and loosen political and economic restraints. First was the minimization of public expenditure, on the basis that the economy and society were best helped by allowing people to spend as they saw fit. Secondly, a foreign policy aimed at promoting peace helped reduce expenditure and taxation as well as help trade. Thirdly, there was the reform of government institutions or laws that prevented people from acting freely to improve themselves.

Related Topics:
1860s - 1870s

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Gladstone's first premiership instituted reforms in the Army, Civil Service and local government to cut restrictions on individual advancement. He instituted the abolition of the sale of commissions in the army and court reorganization. In foreign affairs his over-riding aim was peace and understanding, characterized by his settlement of the Alabama Claims in 1872 in favour of the Americans.

Related Topics:
Sale of commissions - Alabama Claims - 1872

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He transformed the Liberal party during his first premiership (following the enlarged electorate created by Disraeli's Reform Act of 1867). The 1867 Act gave the vote to every male adult householder living in a borough constituency. Male lodgers paying £10 for (unfurnished) rooms also received the vote. This gave the vote to about 1,500,000 men. The Reform Act also changed the electoral map; constituencies and boroughs with less than 10,000 inhabitants lost one of their MPs. The forty-five seats left available through the re-organization were distributed by:

Related Topics:
Reform Act of 1867 - 1867

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• giving fifteen to towns which had never had an MP;
• giving one extra seat to some larger towns — Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds;
• creating a seat for the University of London;
• giving twenty-five seats to counties whose population had increased since 1832.

The later 1884 Reform Act gave the counties the same franchise as the boroughs — adult male householders and £10 lodgers — and added about six million to the total number who could vote in parliamentary elections.

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The issue of Irish Church disestablishment was used by Gladstone to unite the liberal party for government in 1868. The Act was passed in 1869 and meant that Irish Catholics did not need to pay their tithes to the Anglican Church of Ireland. He also instituted Cardwell's Army reform that made peacetime flogging illegal in 1869, and the Irish Land Act and Forster's Education Act in 1870. In 1871 he instituted the University Test Act. In 1872 he instituted the Ballot Act for secret voting ballots. In 1873 he passed laws restructuring the High Courts. He failed to prevent the Franco-German War.

Related Topics:
Catholic - Tithe - Anglican - Church of Ireland - Flogging - 1869 - Irish Land Act - Forster's Education Act - 1870 - 1871 - University Test Act - 1872 - Ballot Act - 1873 - Franco-German War

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