Editing Whigs (British political party) (section)

==== Transition to the Liberal Party ====
The [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] (the term was first used officially in 1868, but had been used colloquially for decades beforehand) arose from a coalition of Whigs, [[free trade]] Tory followers of [[Robert Peel]] and free trade [[Radicals (UK)|Radicals]], first created, tenuously under the [[Peelite]] [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|Earl of Aberdeen]] in 1852 and put together more permanently under the former [[Canningite]] Tory [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]] in 1859. Although the Whigs at first formed the most important part of the coalition, the Whiggish elements of the new party progressively lost influence during the long leadership of former Peelite William Ewart Gladstone. Subsequently, the majority of the old Whig aristocracy broke from the party over the issue of [[Irish home rule]] in 1886 to help form the [[Liberal Unionist Party]], which in turn would merge with the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] by 1912.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Porritt |first1=Edward |title=Political Parties on the Eve of Home Rule |journal=The North American Review |date=1912 |volume=195 |issue=676 |pages=333–342 |jstor=25119718  |issn=0029-2397}}</ref> However, the Unionist support for trade protection in the early twentieth century under [[Joseph Chamberlain]] (probably the least Whiggish character in the Liberal Unionist party) further alienated the more orthodox Whigs. By the early twentieth century "Whiggery" was largely irrelevant and without a natural political home. One of the last active politicians to celebrate his Whiggish roots was the Liberal Unionist statesman [[Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford|Henry James]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1909/nov/29/finance-bill-1#S5LV0004P0_19091129_HOL_23|title=Finance BILL.  |website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|access-date=3 March 2018|archive-date=8 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308025813/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1909/nov/29/finance-bill-1#S5LV0004P0_19091129_HOL_23|date=29 November 1909|url-status=live}}</ref>