Although it is, of course, a matter of public record, it is still hard to remember that William Ewart Gladstone û four times prime minister of Great Britain, leader of the Reform Party after 1867, symbol of the best of liberal reformist ideals of his age û was elected to Parliament in 1832 as a Tory with good, sound Conservative views. But of course, this is true, and the story both of Gladstone and of the Liberalism of his era is in many ways the story of the ways that Enlightenment ideas were transformed by the historical and economic events of the 19th century into the tenets of liberal politics that remain a guiding force of governments today.
This paper examines the development of Gladstonian liberalism, looking particularly at how coherent it could lay claim to being as well investigating what elements of GladstoneÆs political philosophy were owed to Peelite conservatism.1
Gladstone served not only as a lowly MP for the Tories but rose fairly quickly in the partyÆs. In 1843 he became president of the Board of Trade in the Tory cabinet of Sir Robert Peel in large measure because Gladstone supported Peel's movement toward free trade, but when Peel rescinded the Corn Laws in 1846, the Tory party was shattered, and Peel's government collapsed and for the next 13 years, Gladstone as a Peelite, was for the main politically isolated.2
It was during this period of mostly political exile that GladstoneÆs views changed. He accepted the need for religious freedom, including the admission of Jews into Parliament. He also supported the cause of Italian nationalism and unity, which made him a moral force throughout Europe. And then in 1859 û in what might be seen as his formal withdrawal from the ranks of conservatism that had propelled him into politics û he joined the Whigs as chancellor of the Exchequer. His consequent acceptance of the democratic principle made him a champion of the lower classes and in 1866 he proposed suc...