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| Premierships of William Ewart Gladstone | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
|---|---|
William Ewart Gladstone | |
| Party | Liberal |
| Seat | 10 Downing Street |
First term 3 December 1868 – 17 February 1874 | |
| Cabinet | First Gladstone ministry |
| Election | 1868 |
Second term 23 April 1880 – 9 June 1885 | |
| Cabinet | Second Gladstone ministry |
| Election | 1880 |
Third term 1 February 1886 – 20 July 1886 | |
| Cabinet | Third Gladstone ministry |
| Election | 1885 |
Fourth term 15 August 1892 – 2 March 1894 | |
| Cabinet | Fourth Gladstone ministry |
| Election | 1892 |
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| Library website | |
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William Ewart Gladstone was the Liberal prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on four separate occasions between 1868 and 1894. He was noted for his moralistic leadership and his emphasis on world peace, economical budgets, political reform and efforts to resolve the Irish question. Gladstone saw himself as a national leader driven by a political and almost religious mission, which he tried to validate through elections and dramatic appeals to the public conscience. His approach sometimes divided the Liberal Party, which he dominated for three decades. Finally Gladstone split his party on the issue of Irish Home Rule, which he saw as mandated by the true public interest regardless of the political cost.[1][2]
- ^ Richard Shannon, "Peel, Gladstone and Party," Parliamentary History (1999) 18#3 pp. 317–52
- ^ Shannon, Gladstone (1999) 2:401