Editing Benjamin Disraeli (section)

===Second Derby government===
{{Main|Second Derby–Disraeli ministry}}

Derby took office at the head of a purely "Conservative" administration, not in coalition. He again offered a place to Gladstone, who declined. Disraeli was once more leader of the House of Commons and returned to the Exchequer. As in 1852, Derby led a [[minority government]], dependent on the division of its opponents for survival.<ref>Hawkins, Angus. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/175428 "British Parliamentary Party Alignment and the Indian Issue, 1857–1858"], ''The Journal of British Studies'', volume 23, issue 2, Spring 1984, pp. 79–105 {{subscription}}</ref> As Leader of the House, Disraeli resumed his regular reports to Queen Victoria, who had requested that he include what she "could not meet in newspapers".<ref>Weintraub, pp. 369–370</ref>

During its brief life of just over a year, the Derby government proved moderately progressive. The [[Government of India Act 1858]] ended the role of the East India Company in governing the subcontinent.<ref>Aldous, p. 117</ref> The Thames Purification Bill funded the construction of much larger sewers for London.<ref>Wall Street Journal, "The Stink that Sank London", 13 August 2017</ref> Disraeli had supported efforts [[Emancipation of the Jews in the United Kingdom|to allow Jews to sit in Parliament]] with a bill passed through the Commons allowing each house of Parliament to determine what oaths its members should take. This was grudgingly agreed to by the House of Lords, with a minority of Conservatives joining with the Opposition to pass it. In 1858, Baron Lionel de Rothschild became the first MP to profess the Jewish faith.<ref>Weintraub, pp. 371–373</ref>

Faced with a vacancy,{{refn|[[Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough|Lord Ellenborough]], the [[President of the Board of Control]], had resigned amid a political crisis about his supervision of the governing of India.<ref>Blake (1967), pp. 380–382</ref>|group= n}} Disraeli and Derby tried yet again to bring Gladstone, still nominally a Conservative MP, into the government, hoping to strengthen it. Disraeli wrote a personal letter to Gladstone, asking him to place the good of the party above personal animosity: "Every man performs his office, and there is a Power, greater than ourselves, that disposes of all this."<ref>Aldous, p. 106</ref> In response, Gladstone denied that personal feelings played any role in his decisions then and previously whether to accept office, while acknowledging that there were differences between him and Derby "broader than you may have supposed".<ref>Aldous, pp. 106–107</ref>

The Tories pursued a Reform Bill in 1859, which would have resulted in a modest increase to the franchise. The Liberals were healing the breaches between those who favoured Russell and the Palmerston loyalists, and in late March 1859, the government was defeated on a Russell-sponsored amendment. Derby dissolved Parliament, and the [[1859 United Kingdom general election|ensuing general election]] resulted in modest Tory gains, but not enough to control the Commons. When Parliament assembled, Derby's government was defeated by 13 votes on an amendment to the [[speech from the throne|Address from the Throne]]. He resigned, and the Queen reluctantly sent for Palmerston again.<ref>Blake (1967), pp. 401–408</ref>