Following the deaths of Aberdeen, Graham and Herbert, the Peelite caucus of which he was a prime mover was no more. His sudden elevation among the labouring poor as the bringer of prosperity and cheap food – a man of the people – came just at a moment when Gladstone was dangerously isolated at Westminster. Presented with the chance to create a new power base, Gladstone seized the mantle of ‘the People’s William’ with alacrity.
