1892 vote of no confidence against the government of the Marquess of Salisbury
Encyclopedia
The 1892 vote of no confidence against the government of the Marquess of Salisbury occurred when the Conservative Party
government of Robert Cecil, the Marquess of Salisbury decided to meet Parliament after the general election
despite not winning a majority. The government presented a Queen's Speech
, but was defeated on 11 August 1892 when the House of Commons
carried by 350 to 310 an amendment moved by the opposition Liberal Party
declaring that Her Majesty's "present advisers" did not possess the confidence of the House. After the vote Salisbury resigned and Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone
became Prime Minister for the fourth time.
noted that as the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists
together had a majority of 66 in the outgoing House, it would take 33 net seat gains by the Gladstonian side to win (which counted Liberals together with Liberal-Labour
members, and Irish Nationalists
whether supporters or opponents of Charles Stewart Parnell
). The result of elections up to 11 July gave the Liberals 31 gains, and on 12 July the Gladstonians made further progress to reach a total of 36 net gains.The Times Leader column
noted that the leading Liberal Sir William Harcourt
had begun estimating the size of the eventual Gladstonian majority, although the Irish did not class themselves as such and that a majority dependent on their support would not be stable.
With almost all election results known, on 21 July The Times noted that it was for William Ewart Gladstone
to succeed "in uniting, for the moment, the multifarious elements of the motley majority against the Government, to shape that advice so as to compel LORD SALISBURY's resignation". When returns from all seats came in, the Gladstonian Liberals had 272 seats, with their likely allies bringing them up to 355, while the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists had 315. As the Liberal Party did not have a majority of seats on its own, the Prime Minister
the Marquess of Salisbury did not immediately offer his resignation.
On 3 August, Gladstone met with the Anti-Parnellite
leaders Justin McCarthy and John Dillon
, agreeing that the no confidence motion should be put as soon as possible (preferably on Tuesday 9 August) and that there would be only one or two speeches in the debate from the Anti-Parnellite side. The much smaller Parnellites were determined to maintain their independence of other parties, and a resolution to this effect was passed when the Irish National League met in Dublin on 4 August. Both groups determined to continue to sit on the opposition side of the House after a change of government, but it was always clear that they intended to support the no confidence motion.
to elect a Speaker
. Sir Matthew White Ridley (Conservative MP for Blackpool
) proposed, and William Gladstone seconded, the re-election of Arthur Peel who had been in office for the past eight years, and the proposal was unanimously agreed. On 8 August the Queen's speech
was delivered, read by Commission
by the Lord Chancellor
, the Earl of Halsbury
. The "brief and colourless" speech was confined to formally opening the new session, as it asserted that "the business of the Session was completed .. prior to dissolution
."
s Dunbar Barton and William Henry Cross moved and seconded the 'loyal address' thanking the Queen for the speech. Barton noted that some had suggested that Salisbury ought to have resigned immediately it became obvious he had lost the election, and also that Liberals did not want to have a prolonged discussion on their vote of no confidence. As an Irish Unionist member he defended the government's policy on Ireland. H. H. Asquith
then moved an amendment to add the words:
The debate on the amendment occupied three full days of Parliamentary time, on Monday 8, Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 August. Special arrangements had to be made for the eventual vote because the issue was crucial, which was the reason the House did not sit on Wednesday.
:
The announcement produced even more cheers and shouts of "Remember Mitchelstown!"
With 665 Members of Parliament taking part (the 660 voting, two tellers from each side and the Speaker in the Chair), the no confidence vote of 1892 was later acknowledged as the 'greatest division' of all time in the House of Commons in the sense of having the most Members taking part. The full House of Commons had 670 seats but two were vacant at the time (Holborn
, where Gainsford Bruce
had been made a Judge, and Cork North East which had been declined by William O'Brien
in preference to Cork City
when he had been elected to both). Only three Members did not vote. Thomas Bartholomew Curran
(Kilkenny City
, Anti-Parnellite
) was absent in Australia, while Arthur Winterbotham (Cirencester
, Liberal) and John Lloyd Wharton
(Ripon
, Conservative) were both ill and were 'paired' with each other. The Times had successfully forecast the result of the vote on the morning of Wednesday 10 August.
on the Isle of Wight
, where he tendered his resignation. The Court Circular
recorded that the Queen had accepted it "with much regret". Gladstone arrived on Monday 15 August to kiss hands and take office for the fourth time.
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
government of Robert Cecil, the Marquess of Salisbury decided to meet Parliament after the general election
United Kingdom general election, 1892
The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...
despite not winning a majority. The government presented a Queen's Speech
Speech from the Throne
A speech from the throne is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign reads a prepared speech to a complete session of parliament, outlining the government's agenda for the coming session...
, but was defeated on 11 August 1892 when the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
carried by 350 to 310 an amendment moved by the opposition Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
declaring that Her Majesty's "present advisers" did not possess the confidence of the House. After the vote Salisbury resigned and Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
became Prime Minister for the fourth time.
Background
With polling in the general election taking place over several weeks, the state of play with regard to party gains could be monitored each day. The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
noted that as the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists
Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
together had a majority of 66 in the outgoing House, it would take 33 net seat gains by the Gladstonian side to win (which counted Liberals together with Liberal-Labour
Liberal-Labour (UK)
The Liberal–Labour movement refers to the practice of local Liberal associations accepting and supporting candidates who were financially maintained by trade unions...
members, and Irish Nationalists
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
whether supporters or opponents of Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
). The result of elections up to 11 July gave the Liberals 31 gains, and on 12 July the Gladstonians made further progress to reach a total of 36 net gains.The Times Leader column
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
noted that the leading Liberal Sir William Harcourt
William Vernon Harcourt (politician)
Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for various constituencies and held the offices of Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer under William Ewart Gladstone before becoming Leader of...
had begun estimating the size of the eventual Gladstonian majority, although the Irish did not class themselves as such and that a majority dependent on their support would not be stable.
With almost all election results known, on 21 July The Times noted that it was for William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
to succeed "in uniting, for the moment, the multifarious elements of the motley majority against the Government, to shape that advice so as to compel LORD SALISBURY's resignation". When returns from all seats came in, the Gladstonian Liberals had 272 seats, with their likely allies bringing them up to 355, while the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists had 315. As the Liberal Party did not have a majority of seats on its own, the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
the Marquess of Salisbury did not immediately offer his resignation.
On 3 August, Gladstone met with the Anti-Parnellite
Irish National Federation
The Irish National Federation was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded in March 1891 by former members of the Irish National League who had left the Irish Parliamentary Party in protest when Charles Stewart Parnell refused to resign the party leadership as a result of his...
leaders Justin McCarthy and John Dillon
John Dillon
John Dillon was an Irish land reform agitator from Dublin, an Irish Home Rule activist, a nationalist politician, a Member of Parliament for over 35 years, and the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party....
, agreeing that the no confidence motion should be put as soon as possible (preferably on Tuesday 9 August) and that there would be only one or two speeches in the debate from the Anti-Parnellite side. The much smaller Parnellites were determined to maintain their independence of other parties, and a resolution to this effect was passed when the Irish National League met in Dublin on 4 August. Both groups determined to continue to sit on the opposition side of the House after a change of government, but it was always clear that they intended to support the no confidence motion.
Parliament meets
On 4 August the new Parliament met for the House of CommonsBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
to elect a Speaker
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
. Sir Matthew White Ridley (Conservative MP for Blackpool
Blackpool (UK Parliament constituency)
Blackpool was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Blackpool in Lancashire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
) proposed, and William Gladstone seconded, the re-election of Arthur Peel who had been in office for the past eight years, and the proposal was unanimously agreed. On 8 August the Queen's speech
Speech from the Throne
A speech from the throne is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign reads a prepared speech to a complete session of parliament, outlining the government's agenda for the coming session...
was delivered, read by Commission
Lords Commissioners
The Lords Commissioners are Privy Counsellors appointed by the Monarch of the United Kingdom to exercise, on his or her behalf, certain functions relating to Parliament which would otherwise require the monarch's attendance at the Palace of Westminster...
by the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
, the Earl of Halsbury
Hardinge Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury
Hardinge Stanley Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury PC, QC was a leading barrister, politician and government minister. He served thrice as Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...
. The "brief and colourless" speech was confined to formally opening the new session, as it asserted that "the business of the Session was completed .. prior to dissolution
Dissolution of parliament
In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...
."
No confidence motion
When the House of Commons met that afternoon, Unionist backbencherBackbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
s Dunbar Barton and William Henry Cross moved and seconded the 'loyal address' thanking the Queen for the speech. Barton noted that some had suggested that Salisbury ought to have resigned immediately it became obvious he had lost the election, and also that Liberals did not want to have a prolonged discussion on their vote of no confidence. As an Irish Unionist member he defended the government's policy on Ireland. H. H. Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
then moved an amendment to add the words:
The debate on the amendment occupied three full days of Parliamentary time, on Monday 8, Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 August. Special arrangements had to be made for the eventual vote because the issue was crucial, which was the reason the House did not sit on Wednesday.
Division
The vote was called at midnight on 11 August. The Times reported that there was a "scene of great excitement", and owing to the large number of Members of Parliament voting it took more than 25 minutes to count. Both Arthur Balfour and William Gladstone were cheered by their parties, with Gladstone being greeted by his supporters waving their hats. The result was announced by Liberal MP Arnold MorleyArnold Morley
Arnold Morley PC was a British barrister and Liberal politician.-Background:Morley was a younger son of Samuel Morley and Rebekah Maria, daughter of Samuel Hope of Liverpool...
:
| 350 | |
| 310 |
The announcement produced even more cheers and shouts of "Remember Mitchelstown!"
With 665 Members of Parliament taking part (the 660 voting, two tellers from each side and the Speaker in the Chair), the no confidence vote of 1892 was later acknowledged as the 'greatest division' of all time in the House of Commons in the sense of having the most Members taking part. The full House of Commons had 670 seats but two were vacant at the time (Holborn
Holborn (UK Parliament constituency)
Holborn was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Holborn district of Central London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
, where Gainsford Bruce
Gainsford Bruce
Sir Gainsford Bruce was a British politician and judge.-Biography:Bruce was born in 1835 in Newcastle upon Tyne the son of the Reverend Dr. Collingwood Bruce a proprietor of a private school and his wife Charlotte ....
had been made a Judge, and Cork North East which had been declined by William O'Brien
William O'Brien
William O'Brien was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
in preference to Cork City
Cork City (UK Parliament constituency)
Cork City was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1880 to 1922 it returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
when he had been elected to both). Only three Members did not vote. Thomas Bartholomew Curran
Thomas Bartholomew Curran
Thomas Bartholomew Curran was an Irish barrister and an Anti-Parnellite/Irish National Federation politician who served in the United Kingdom House of Commons as Member of Parliament for the constituencies of Kilkenny City and North Donegal .He was the son of Thomas Curran, MP for South Sligo...
(Kilkenny City
Kilkenny City (UK Parliament constituency)
Kilkenny City was an Irish Borough constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament...
, Anti-Parnellite
Irish National Federation
The Irish National Federation was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded in March 1891 by former members of the Irish National League who had left the Irish Parliamentary Party in protest when Charles Stewart Parnell refused to resign the party leadership as a result of his...
) was absent in Australia, while Arthur Winterbotham (Cirencester
Cirencester (UK Parliament constituency)
Cirencester was a parliamentary constituency in Gloucestershire. From 1571 until 1885, it was a parliamentary borough, which returned two Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868, and one member between 1868 and 1885...
, Liberal) and John Lloyd Wharton
John Lloyd Wharton
- External links :...
(Ripon
Ripon (UK Parliament constituency)
Ripon was a constituency sending members to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1983, centred on the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire.-History:...
, Conservative) were both ill and were 'paired' with each other. The Times had successfully forecast the result of the vote on the morning of Wednesday 10 August.
Change of Ministry
On Saturday 13 August, the Marquess of Salisbury arrived to see Queen Victoria at Osborne HouseOsborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat....
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, where he tendered his resignation. The Court Circular
Court Circular
The Court Circular is the official record that lists the engagements carried out by the Monarch of the United Kingdom and of the other Commonwealth Realms; the Royal Family; and appointments to their staff and to the court. It is issued by Buckingham Palace and printed a day in arrears at the back...
recorded that the Queen had accepted it "with much regret". Gladstone arrived on Monday 15 August to kiss hands and take office for the fourth time.