Editing Benjamin Disraeli (section)

== Chancellor of the Exchequer ==

===First Derby government===
{{Main|Who? Who? ministry}}
[[File:14th Earl of Derby.jpg|thumb|upright|[[The Earl of Derby]], Prime Minister 1852, 1858–59, 1866–68|alt=A stately-looking gentleman in a dark suit, sitting with a book]]

In March 1851, Lord John Russell's [[Whig government, 1846–1852|government]] was defeated over a bill to equalise the county and borough franchises, mostly because of divisions among his supporters. He resigned, and the Queen sent for Stanley, who felt that a minority government could do little and would not last long, so Russell remained in office. Disraeli regretted this, hoping for an opportunity, however brief, to show himself capable in office.<ref>Weintraub, p. 303</ref> Stanley, in contrast, deprecated his inexperienced followers as a reason for not assuming office: "These are not names I can put before the Queen."<ref>Jenkins, p. 137</ref>

At the end of June 1851, Stanley succeeded to the title of [[Earl of Derby]].<ref>Blake (1967), p. 307</ref> The Whigs were wracked by internal dissensions during the second half of 1851, much of which Parliament spent in recess. Russell dismissed [[Lord Palmerston]] from the cabinet, leaving the latter determined to deprive the Prime Minister of office. Palmerston did so within weeks of Parliament's reassembly on 4 February 1852, his followers combining with Disraeli's Tories to defeat the government on a Militia Bill, and Russell resigned. Derby had either to take office or risk damage to his reputation,<ref name = "j138">Jenkins, p. 138</ref> and he accepted the Queen's commission as prime minister. Palmerston declined any office; Derby had hoped to have him as [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]. Disraeli, his closest ally, was his second choice and accepted, though disclaiming any great knowledge in the financial field. Gladstone refused to join the government.<ref>Blake (1967), pp. 310–311</ref> Disraeli may have been attracted to the office by the £5,000 annual salary, which would help pay his debts.<ref name = "h203">Hibbert, p. 203</ref> Few of the new cabinet had held office before; when Derby tried to inform the [[Duke of Wellington]] of the names of the ministers, the old Duke, who was somewhat deaf, inadvertently branded the new government by incredulously repeating "Who? Who?"<ref name = "j138" />

In the following weeks, Disraeli served as Leader of the House (with Derby as prime minister in the Lords) and as Chancellor. He wrote regular reports on proceedings in the Commons to Victoria, who described them as "very curious" and "much in the style of his books".<ref name = "h203" /> Parliament was [[Legislative session#Procedure in Commonwealth realms|prorogued]] on 1 July 1852 as the Tories could not govern for long as a minority; Disraeli hoped that they would gain a majority of about 40. Instead, [[1852 United Kingdom general election|the election]] later that month had no clear winner, and the Derby government held to power pending the meeting of Parliament.<ref>Blake (1967), pp. 322–323</ref>

=== Budget ===

Disraeli's task as Chancellor was to devise a budget which would satisfy the protectionist elements who supported the Tories, without uniting the free-traders against it.<ref>Blake (1967), p. 328</ref> His proposed budget, which he presented to the Commons on 3 December, lowered the taxes on malt and tea, provisions designed to appeal to the working class. To make his budget revenue-neutral, as funds were needed to provide defences against the French, he doubled the house tax and continued the income tax.<ref name = "w321">Weintraub, p. 321</ref> Disraeli's overall purpose was to enact policies which would benefit the working classes, making his party more attractive to them.<ref>Aldous, p. 67</ref> Although the budget did not contain protectionist features, the Opposition was prepared to destroy it—and Disraeli's career as Chancellor—in part out of revenge for his actions against Peel in 1846. MP [[Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea|Sidney Herbert]] predicted that the budget would fail because "Jews make no converts".<ref name = "w321" />

[[File:William Ewart Gladstone by George Frederic Watts.jpg|thumb|upright|[[William Ewart Gladstone|Gladstone]] in the 1850s|alt=A middle-aged man in Victorian clothes]]
Disraeli delivered the budget on 3 December 1852,<ref>Weintraub, p. 320</ref> and prepared to wind up the debate for the government on 16 December—it was customary for the Chancellor to have the last word. A massive defeat for the government was predicted. Disraeli attacked his opponents individually, and then as a force: "I face a Coalition&nbsp;... This, too, I know, that England does not love coalitions."<ref>Aldous, p. 70</ref> His speech of three hours was quickly seen as a parliamentary masterpiece. As MPs prepared to divide, Gladstone rose to his feet and began an angry speech, despite the efforts of Tory MPs to shout him down.<ref>Aldous, pp. 68–71</ref> The interruptions were fewer, as Gladstone gained control of the House, and in the next two hours painted a picture of Disraeli as frivolous and his budget as subversive. The government was defeated by 19 votes, and Derby resigned four days later. He was replaced by the Peelite [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|Earl of Aberdeen]], with Gladstone as his Chancellor.<ref>Aldous, pp. 71–78</ref> Because of Disraeli's unpopularity among the Peelites, no party reconciliation was possible while he remained Tory leader in the Commons.<ref>Blake (1967), pp. 346–347</ref>

=== Opposition ===
With the fall of the government, Disraeli and the Conservatives returned to the Opposition benches. Disraeli would spend three-quarters of his 44-year parliamentary career in Opposition. Derby was reluctant to seek to unseat the government, fearing a repetition of the Who? Who? Ministry and knowing that shared dislike of Disraeli was part of what had formed the governing coalition. Disraeli, on the other hand, was anxious to return to office. In the interim, Disraeli, as Conservative leader in the Commons, opposed the government on all major measures.<ref>Blake (1967), pp. 354–357</ref>

In June 1853 Disraeli was awarded an honorary degree by the [[University of Oxford]]. He had been recommended for it by Lord Derby, the university's [[Chancellor of Oxford University|Chancellor]].<ref>Hibbert, pp. 212–213</ref> The start of the [[Crimean War]] in 1854 caused a lull in party politics; Disraeli spoke patriotically in support. The British military efforts were marked by bungling, and in 1855 a restive Parliament considered a resolution to establish a committee on the conduct of the war. The Aberdeen government made this a [[motion of confidence]]; Disraeli led the Opposition to defeat the government, 305 to 148. Aberdeen resigned, and the Queen sent for Derby, who to Disraeli's frustration refused to take office. Palmerston was deemed essential to any Whig ministry, and he would not join any he did not head. The Queen reluctantly asked Palmerston to form a government.<ref>Blake (1967), pp. 359–362</ref> Under Palmerston, the war went better, and was ended by the [[Treaty of Paris (1856)|Treaty of Paris]] in early 1856. Disraeli was early to call for peace but had little influence on events.<ref>Weintraub, pp. 344–346</ref>

When [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|a rebellion]] broke out in India in 1857, Disraeli took a keen interest, having been a member of a [[select committee (parliamentary system)|select committee]] in 1852 which considered how best to rule the subcontinent, and had proposed eliminating the governing role of the [[British East India Company]]. After peace was restored, and Palmerston in early 1858 brought in legislation for direct rule of India by the Crown, Disraeli opposed it. Many Conservative MPs refused to follow him, and the bill passed the Commons easily.<ref>Blake (1967), pp. 376–377</ref>

Palmerston's grip on the premiership was weakened by his response to the [[Orsini affair]], in which an attempt was made to assassinate the French Emperor [[Napoleon III]] by an Italian revolutionary with a bomb made in Birmingham. At the request of the French ambassador, Palmerston proposed amending the [[conspiracy to murder]] statute to make creating an [[bomb|infernal device]] a felony. He was defeated by 19 votes on the second reading, with many Liberals crossing the aisle against him. He immediately resigned, and Lord Derby returned to office.<ref>Blake (1967), pp. 377–379</ref>

===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>

===Opposition and third term as Chancellor===
{{Main|Third Derby–Disraeli ministry}}
After Derby's second ejection from office, Disraeli faced dissension within Conservative ranks from those who blamed him for the defeat, or who felt he was disloyal to Derby—the former prime minister warned Disraeli of some MPs seeking his removal from the front bench.<ref name = "b426">Blake (1967), p. 426</ref> Among the conspirators were [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Robert Cecil]], a Conservative MP who would a quarter century later become prime minister as Lord Salisbury; he wrote that having Disraeli as leader in the Commons decreased the Conservatives' chance of holding office. When [[James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury|Cecil's father]] objected, Lord Robert stated, "I have merely put into print what all the country gentlemen were saying in private."<ref name = "b426" />

[[File:Lord Robert Cecil aetat 27.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Robert Cecil]], Disraeli's fierce opponent in the 1860s, but later his ally and successor|alt=A young man with dark hair and huge sideburns]]
Disraeli led a toothless Opposition in the Commons—seeing no way of unseating Palmerston, Derby privately agreed not to seek the government's defeat.<ref>Weintraub, pp. 382–383</ref> Disraeli kept himself informed on foreign affairs, and on what was going on in cabinet, thanks to a source within it. When the [[American Civil War]] began in 1861, Disraeli said little publicly, but [[United Kingdom and the American Civil War|like most Englishmen]] expected the South to win. Less reticent were Palmerston, Gladstone, and Russell, whose statements in support of the South contributed to years of hard feelings in the United States.<ref>Blake (1967), p. 429</ref> In 1862, Disraeli met Prussian Count [[Otto von Bismarck]] and said of him, "be careful about that man, he means what he says".<ref>Weintraub, p. 395</ref>

The party truce ended in 1864, with Tories outraged over Palmerston's handling of the territorial dispute between the [[German Confederation]] and Denmark known as the [[Schleswig-Holstein Question]]. Disraeli had little help from Derby, who was ill, but he united the party enough on a no-confidence vote to limit the government to a majority of 18—Tory defections and absentees kept Palmerston in office.<ref>Weintraub, p. 405</ref> Despite rumours about Palmerston's health as he turned 80, he remained personally popular, and the Liberals increased their margin in the [[1865 United Kingdom general election|July 1865 general election]]. In the wake of the poor election results, Derby predicted to Disraeli that neither of them would ever hold office again.<ref>Weintraub, p. 411</ref>

Political plans were thrown into disarray by Palmerston's death on 18 October 1865. Russell became prime minister again, with Gladstone clearly the Liberal Party's leader-in-waiting, and as Leader of the House Disraeli's direct opponent. One of Russell's early priorities was a Reform Bill, but the proposed legislation that Gladstone announced on 12 March 1866 divided his party. The Conservatives and the [[Adullamites|dissident Liberals]] repeatedly attacked Gladstone's bill, and in June finally defeated the government; Russell resigned on 26 June. The dissidents were unwilling to serve under Disraeli in the House of Commons, and Derby formed a third Conservative minority government, with Disraeli again as Chancellor.<ref>Blake (1967), pp. 436–445</ref>

===Tory Democrat: the 1867 Reform Act===
It was Disraeli's belief that if given the vote British people would use it instinctively to put their natural and traditional rulers, the gentlemen of the Conservative Party, into power. Responding to renewed agitation for popular suffrage, Disraeli persuaded a majority of the cabinet to agree to a Reform bill. With what Derby cautioned was "a leap in the dark", Disraeli had outflanked the Liberals who, as the supposed champions of Reform, dared not oppose him. In the absence of a credible party rival and for fear of having an election called on the issue, Conservatives felt obliged to support Disraeli despite their misgivings.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bowles|first=John H.|title=Dramatic Decisions, 1776 - 1945|publisher=Macmillan & Co Ltd|year=1961|location=London|pages=94–95}}</ref>

There were Tory dissenters, most notably [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Cranborne]] (as Robert Cecil was by then known) who resigned from the government and spoke against the bill, accusing Disraeli of "a political betrayal which has no parallel in our Parliamentary annals".<ref>Blake (1967), p. 473</ref> Even as Disraeli accepted Liberal amendments (although pointedly refusing those moved by Gladstone)<ref>Aldous, pp. 174, 179, 182–184</ref> that further lowered the property qualification, Cranborne was unable to lead an effective rebellion. Disraeli gained wide acclaim and became a hero to his party for the "marvellous parliamentary skill" with which he secured the passage of Reform in the Commons.<ref name=":1">Hibbert, p. 259</ref>

From the Liberal benches too there was admiration. MP for Nottingham [[Ralph Bernal Osborne|Bernal Ostborne]] declared:{{blockquote|I have always thought the Chancellor of Exchequer was the greatest Radical in the House. He has achieved what no other man in the country could have done. He has lugged up that great omnibus full of stupid, heavy, country gentlemen--I only say 'stupid' in the parliamentary sense--and has converted these Conservative into Radical Reformers.<ref>Bowles 1961, pp. 100&ndash;101</ref>}}

The [[Reform Act 1867]] passed that August.<ref>Maurice Cowling, ''1867 Disraeli, Gladstone and Revolution: The Passing of the Second Reform Bill'' (Cambridge UP, 2005).</ref> It extended the franchise by 938,427 men—an increase of 88%—by giving the vote to male householders and male lodgers paying at least £10 for rooms. It eliminated [[rotten borough]]s with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, and granted constituencies to 15 unrepresented towns, with extra representation to large municipalities such as Liverpool and Manchester.<ref>Conacher (1971), p. 179</ref>