Premiership of Benjamin Disraeli - First Government (1868)

First Government (1868)

During mid-February 1868 the Prime Minister, The Earl of Derby, received medical advice which told him that he could not fully recover from his illness whilst Premier. He therefore asked Benjamin Disraeli (who was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time) if he was ready to be Premier, and then informed Queen Victoria of his intention to resign and advised her to appoint Disraeli as his successor. On 27 February Disraeli visited the Queen at Osborne House and kissed hands, telling his friends afterwards: "Yes, I have climbed to the top of the greasy pole".

Disraeli inherited a minority Conservative administration but was able to pass some notable Acts of Parliament. The Public Schools Act 1868 established a board of governors for nine English public schools. The Telegraph Act 1868 gave the Post Office power to nationalise all telegraph companies. The Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868 abolished public executions. The Parliamentary Election Act 1868 transferred the power to try to punish electoral irregularities from the partisan Committee of the House of Commons to the impartial tribunal of judges. The judges objected to these new responsibilities imposed on them but their opposition was overcome and electoral irregularities were then tried in a legal tribunal rather than a committee of party politicians.

Disraeli also appointed a Royal Commission on the Sanitary Laws chaired by Sir Charles Adderley.