A cartoon published on the
6th of July 1872 shows Lord Aberdeen
(a Conservative peer) approaching
Disreali, underneath is written a
caption. Disreali when asked is
meant to have said out of the top
of his head, ‘Tell them, my good
Abercorn, with my compliments
what we propose to rely on the
good sublime instincts of ancient
people!’ This quote is Disreali
directly quoting himself, as the
part underlined has come straight
from the speech at crystal palace.
It makes the words seem meaning less.
As Conservative leader he passed the 1867 Reform Act. This meant that the working class men were finally allowed to vote for the first time. There was now a whole new ‘population’ of people to deal with and to convince who the best Prime Minister was for the country. This meant that any new reform, ideas and changes had to consider the needs of all the classes. Even though Palmerston did not want this reform to be passed, Disreali and other members of Parliament made sure that it was not regarded as a threat and Britain would not be faced with the same problems as other European countries. Disreali believed that it was time for the working class to have their say.
Prime Minister Disreali also passed many great reforms that would directly affect the working class and the way they lived. Also, as the Liberals supported most of the reforms that the Conservatives wanted to pass, it meant that they got through Parliament twice as quickly. This was a great help for Disreali as it enabled the reforms to be put into action as soon as possible. Therefore affecting people’s lives for the better.
There were many issues in Disreali’s office that had not been looked at before, as people had not been previously aware of how they affected their lives. For example, never before had a Condition of Food Act (1875), been passed or even thought about. The Act ensured that the buying and selling of food was monitored. Therefore helping to prevent the problem of people putting or adding ingredients into the food that should not be there. So creating an increased awareness of how important reforms like this were to the lives, health and safety of the population.
The problem of river pollution (1875) was another example of new initiatives that Disreali’s Party tackled. At the time the River Thames especially was used to dump lots of waste products in it, this consisted of human excrement and household waste, to chemicals from the local businesses and the factories. The reform stopped all of the industrial waste from being put in to all rivers, this act wasn’t enforced very well as all non poisonous waste could still be put into it, but again this was considered important to the improvement of living conditions of Britain at the time.
Problems with working conditions were also looked at in Disreali’s governments’ reforms. The reform he passed was called; - The Employers and Workman’s act (1875). It meant that the employer and the employee were on the same terms. If either one of them breached their contracts, then they would be under the same scrutiny. Under this new reform both of them would be promoted equally ensuring the conditions in most factories improved due to equal treatment and co-operation on both sides. The result of this was due to the employer not wishing to loose any of his power, there was not the willingness to carry this reform through.
One of Disreali’s weaker reforms was the Artisan’s Dwelling Act (1875). This was not as effective as his other reforms as it was dealing with social issues rather than the more important economic issues. The decision to make the pubs opening hour’s four hours longer than before was very popular with the working class and with the people that owned the pubs, but this not so with the other classes.
They believed the longer the pubs stayed open the longer there was for excessive drinking. This in turn would lead to fighting, muggings and stealing. By keeping the pub opening hours shorter it was felt it would keep the disruptive element off the streets. Other members of Parliament thought that the continuation of the pubs opening hours might also be for Disreali’s personal benefits, as they all knew how he liked the ‘occasional drink’.
There are three main ideas that historians consider when deciding why Disreali wanted the power of being Prime Minister, points from each idea are valuable. As according to his speeches he wanted to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, ‘the Conservatives could bridge the Gap between two nations’. This first point could be because of his social upbringing making him not wanting others to miss out the way that he did. The way he showed this was by passing reforms that improved the working and living conditions of the lower class.
The second consideration was people in the upper classes thought that it was their moral duty to help those less fortunate than themselves, then God would reward them ‘in heaven’. Disreali believed this point and also regarded as important the fact that the ‘British people all belonged to one happy family, each with their particular role to play’. This all suggests the unity between all of the classes and establishes further why these reforms played such an important part in Disreali’s time as Prime Minister.
The final idea was that of Disreali simply wanting political gain. Historians believe this, as looking over Disreali’s manifestos etc. they seem to agree that Disreali had no clearly marked policies, they were all very general, and most of them were based on ideas that Gladstone and other MP’s had set up before hand. In some ways the historian’s ideas are need to be considered, although looking over everything you can see that this was not purely for political gain. Disreali achieved many good things while Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, laying the foundations for future reforms and changes in areas that had never previously been considered.
In 1880 the Conservatives fell from power this happened for lots of reasons. Many of theses reasons were because of the other politician’s thought that what Disreali had done over seas with the foreign affairs. They often thought that because of all the time that he was spending with matters abroad, that he sometime forgot them problems that were happening closer to home.
This period of time also showed the retirement of Gladstone from Office. The Liberals had a new leader, he was very organised and prepared in his work which led the rest of the Liberal government to follow in his good example. This did not reflect the Conservatives as from 1874 they had ‘stagnated’ and were ‘caught unprepared for the election’.
Though Disreali did face many problems getting to be Prime Minister and Party Leader because of his background, his lifestyle. Then the way his reforms, at both at home and abroad were received by others either in Office, or member’s public. It seems that at the time that no one could be pleased when ever he did anything right for the public and Britain. Though he did seem to over through those opinions and get on with what he want to do, helping those less fortunate than himself. By struggling against everything and finally doing what he really wanted to do makes him successful.
