·
Free Trade and his
Budgets
·
Gladstone’s Ideology
helps to define Liberalism and unify Liberal Party
·
Gladstone and
Parliamentary Reform
Some historians would argue that
Gladstone made a significant contribution to Liberalism especially with his
focus on free trade and low government spending. Gladstone had inherited this
belief from his mentor, Robert Peel. It was over free trade and the Repeal of
the Corn Laws in 1846 that forced Gladstone and the Peelite rump out of the
Conservative Party.
As Chancellor of the
Exchequer in the early 1850s Gladstone passed a number of budgets which reduced
the costs of every day goods such as tea, coffee and sugar. In comparison with
Disraeli’s attempts to introduce a malt tax, which would have benefited the
farmers and taxed the urban classes, Gladstone claimed he was making Britain a
cheap place to live for everyone. Gladstone inherited Peel’s legacy, and he
genuinely believed that free trade was the panacea (cure for all ills) for the
British economy. This would stimulate investment and in turn create more jobs
and wealth.
There is no doubt that
Gladstone’s budgets helped to create the economic climate in which there was a
boom: the 1850s was a period of massive growth and wealth creation, the high
point (apogee) of Britain’s industrialisation. In the mind of the working
classes and many of the middle classes cheap food and boom was the result of
Gladstone’s prudent managing of the economy. This in turn boosts liberalism in
popular culture and the Liberal Party becomes associated with wealth creation.
This is of huge political significance for Gladstone and for the Liberal
Party.
Symbols were of great
importance to Gladstone and it could be argued that he knew how to gain
political support from his actions. Gladstone promoted himself as a man of the
people; he was referred to in the popular press as the ‘People’s William’, as
someone who was promoting the cause of the working classes, rather like a
crusader. The irony in this was Gladstone was very much against democracy- his
‘Pale of the Constitution’ speech in 1864 suggested that everyone was
potentially entitled to the vote but this was a manifesto that was beyond the
hopes of most working people. The rhetoric and propaganda was arguably more
persuasive than the reality. Gladstone’s image was replicated on all sorts of
paraphernalia such as chamber pots and mugs, seen with chopper in hand.
Gladstone was seen as a man of the people, and this no doubt had a beneficial
effect on the Liberal Party.
There was some substance to
the argument that Gladstone contributed to the popular appeal of Liberalism:
his abolition of the paper duties especially overcoming opposition from the
House of Lords, as well as his high moral tone suggested that Gladstone was the
man of the moment. No doubt he was helped by the beneficial economic
circumstances. But not all is so clear. Not least the extent to which Gladstone
himself was a genuine liberal. Some would say he is best described as a
liberal-conservative, and that his liberal views extended only so far as free
trade and the economy.
There is an argument that
Gladstone needed the Liberal Party more than the Liberal Party needed him. No
doubt the power of his personality provided an element of unity amongst the
Whigs, Peelites and Radicals who made up an uneasy coalition. Gladstone became
a symbol of the party, with his focus on retrenchment and free trade. In his
day, Palmerston was equally popular for his successful and active foreign
policies.
·
Gladstone almost
returned to the Conservative Party in 1858. He was invited back by Derby. But,
he made a political judgment that he was more likely to become leader of the
Liberal Party! Makes Gladstone seem less of a hero and more of an opportunistic
politician.
·
Disraeli had first
mentioned the possibility of Parliamentary Reform in the late 1850s. Gladstone
rubbished this idea, but then went on to introduce his own bill in 1865. Shows
no real commitment. Changing views according to the political situation.