The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs Disraeli

by Richard Aldous

For Gladstone the answer to the question ‘why have you become a Liberal?’ would be one word: Italy. On his journey back from Corfu, he had dined with Count Cavour, the prime minister of Piedmont. This turned out to be his own ‘Willis’s Rooms’ moment of conversion. The Italian Question – namely, what position would Britain take on the inevitable war for Italian independence against the Austrian Hapsburg Empire – would quickly establish itself as one of the greatest and most contested ideological divides in nineteenth-century politics. This alone gave Gladstone a plausible reason to identify himself publicly with the pro-nationalist Liberal administration that took office in June 1859. When Palmerston invited him to join the government as chancellor, Gladstone could justify his acceptance by pointing to the prime minister’s impeccable position on Italy. ‘Never had I an easier question to determine than when I was asked to join the government,’ Gladstone said; ‘I can hardly now think how I could have looked any one in the face, had I refused my aid (such as it is) at such a time and under such circumstances.’ Never again would Gladstone be invited to, or consider, joining a Conservative administration. As the youngest of the government triumvirate that also included Palmerston and Russell, his eventual succession to the Liberal leadership would soon appear inevitable. For the first time Gladstone and Disraeli genuinely found themselves separated by party. ‘The great battle co...