Politics
Gladstone was also interested in politics. He was in favour of a qualified reform of the franchise and of Greek independence during the 1820s. At first he was a Whig, but he came to support the Tory George Canning, and became a Tory. In 1812 he presided over a meeting at Liverpool which was called to invite Canning to represent Liverpool in the House of Commons. Gladstone wanted to represent Liverpool himself, but this never happened. Instead, he was Member of Parliament for Lancaster (1818–1820), Woodstock (1820–1826), and Berwick-upon-Tweed (1826–1827). This rejection by Liverpool soured his relationship with the city. William Gladstone began his political career as a right-wing Tory like his father, before becoming a Liberal Prime Minister.
Read more about this topic: Sir John Gladstone, 1st Baronet
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“I played by the rules of politics as I found them.”
—Richard M. Nixon (1913–1995)
“Our democracy, our culture, our whole way of life is a spectacular triumph of the blah. Why not have a political convention without politics to nominate a leader who’s out in front of nobody?... Maybe our national mindlessness is the very thing that keeps us from turning into one of those smelly European countries full of pseudo-reds and crypto-fascists and greens who dress like forest elves.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)