William Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone ( YOO-ərt GLAD-stən; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman who served four times as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He began in politics as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Newark and ended as the face of the Liberal Party. His four non-consecutive terms — the most of any British prime minister — took place between 1868 and 1894. He also served four times as Chancellor of the Exchequer, five times as Leader of the House of Commons, and MP for over 60 years, from 1832 to 1845 and from 1847 to 1895, representing a total of five constituencies. His political career thus spanned nearly the entire Victorian era. Gladstone was born in Liverpool to the prominent Scottish merchant and slaveholder Sir John Gladstone. A graduate of Eton and Oxford, Gladstone first entered the House of Commons in 1832 as a High Tory, a grouping that joined the Conservative Party under Sir Robert Peel in 1834. Gladstone served as a minister in both of Peel's governments, and in 1846 joined the breakaway Peelite faction that merged into the new Liberal Party in 1859. He was chancellor under Lord Aberdeen (1852–1855), Lord Palmerston (1859–1865) and Lord Russell (1865–1866). Gladstone's own political doctrine – which promoted equality of opportunity and the repeal of taxes and protectionist trade barriers – came to be known as Gladstonian liberalism. His popularity among the working class earned him the sobriquet "The People's William". In 1868, Gladstone became prime minister for the first time. His ministry passed many reforms, including the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland and the introduction of secret voting. After electoral defeat in 1874, Gladstone resigned as leader of the Liberal Party. From 1876 he began a comeback based on moral opposition to the Ottoman Empire's massacres of revolting Bulgarians. His Midlothian speaking campaign of 1879–1880 was an early example of many modern political campaigning techniques. After the 1880 general election, Gladstone formed his second ministry (1880–1885), which saw the passage of the Third Reform Act as well as crises in Ireland — where his government passed repressive measures but also improved the legal rights of tenant farmers — and Egypt, where public outrage at the death of General Gordon in the Siege of Khartoum forced him to resign. Gladstone's brief 1886 premiership was dominated by his proposal of home rule for Ireland that was defeated in the House of Commons and caused Liberal Unionists to break from his party. This helped keep the Liberals out of office for 20 years, barring the minority cabinet Gladstone formed in 1892. This time, the Government of Ireland Bill 1893 passed through the Commons but was defeated by a wide margin in the House of Lords. Gladstone resigned in March 1894, aged 84, as the oldest ever prime minister. His successor, Lord Rosebery, was defeated in a landslide in the subsequent year's election. Gladstone left Parliament in 1895 and died three years later. A powerful orator, Gladstone was called by some the "G.O.M." (to his supporters, the "Grand Old Man"; to his rivals, "God's Only Mistake"). Historians often rank Gladstone as one of the greatest prime ministers in British history. His devoutness, charitable work (particularly with fallen women) and nonfiction texts on subjects ranging from the Oxford Movement to classical civilisation have also attracted attention.