William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone was born in Liverpool in 1809 and entered Parliament in 1832 as a Tory with conservative views, at first opposing the abolition of slavery. A follower of Robert Peel, he moved toward free trade after the Conservative split of 1846. He served several times as Chancellor of the Exchequer, became leader of the Liberal Party in 1867 and was Prime Minister four times between 1868 and 1894. His long rivalry with Benjamin Disraeli dominated Victorian politics. He was known for long budget speeches, for campaigning against Ottoman atrocities in the Balkans and for personal religious and charitable work. He resigned for the last time in 1894, aged 84, and died in 1898.

Admirers, including many working-class voters who called him the Grand Old Man, saw Gladstone as a moral force for free trade, sound finance, wider voting rights and justice for Ireland. Critics in his own time, including Queen Victoria, regarded him as dangerously populist, and his handling of the Sudan crisis and the death of General Gordon damaged his reputation. Historians also note his early defence of his family's plantation interests. His split with Liberal Unionists over Home Rule reshaped British party politics for decades, and his name remains closely linked with the Liberal tradition.