The appointment of Herbert Gladstone as Liberal Chief Whip in 1899

Herbert Gladstone was much denigrated by his contemporaries, such as David Lloyd George, as a lightweight figure, a dwarf in politics very much in the shadow of his famous father. However, this chapter reveals that others have recognised Gladstone’s qualities and that he was the right person to be Liberal Chief Whip in 1899 at a time when the Liberal Party was, as he was, in something of a political wilderness. Faced with a divided Liberal Party, with declining income, as well as his own family responsibilities, Gladstone emerges as the right person to revive Liberal fortunes - especially as he was one of the few prominent Liberal politicians of the 1890s to recognise the importance of independent Labour representation in Parliament. Ultimately, of course, he was an important figure in brokering a secret parliamentary pact with Ramsay MacDonald, of the Labour Representation League in 1903, which paved the way for Labour winning 29, soon to be 30, parliamentary seats and the revival of the Liberals to 400 seats in 1906. This might have led the Liberal Party to accept a cuckoo in the nest but the action seemed right at the time.