William Ewart Gladstone

Midlothian Local Studies holds a large scrapbook of political and satirical cartoons from William Ewart Gladstone’s famous Midlothian Campaign of 1879-1880.

The Midlothian Campaign marked the return of William Gladstone as a politician and ultimately to his second term as Prime Minister. Gladstone’s first administration had run from 1868 to 1874. After his electoral defeat in 1874, Gladstone resigned as leader of the Liberal Party, but from 1876 he began a comeback based on opposition to Turkish atrocities in Bulgaria. Around this time, a series of news stories appeared in the British press about the brutal suppression of the Bulgarian April Uprising by the Turkish Ottoman Empire. British public reaction was generally one of dismay, but the Conservative government of Benjamin Disraeli continued to support the Ottomans, an ally of Britain in the Crimean War and a bulwark against possible Russian expansion. 

By 1878, William Gladstone was publishing articles in favour of ending British economic support for Turkey. His dogged focus on the issue gradually dragged it to the forefront of public attention. By 1879, Gladstone had been accepted as Liberal Party candidate for the Scottish constituency of Edinburghshire, popularly known as Midlothian. He committed himself in person to campaign for the Midlothian seat against the Tory Lord Dalkeith. 

The Midlothian Campaign of 1879-1880 is often cited as the first modern political campaign in Britain. In many ways, it focused on Gladstone as a celebrity with the Earl of Rosebery as his campaign manager. Gladstone used the newly developed railway system to move rapidly around both the country and the county, giving a series of passionate speeches in different towns and cities. These in turn were widely reported and debated in the national press. The campaign also produced numerous souvenirs, such as badges, political prints, pamphlets and china figurines. Gladstone’s meetings attracted huge audiences, even though the franchise was very restricted at this time. Midlothian, for example, had only 3620 voters. Gladstone’s enthusiasm and eloquence are credited with swaying a large number of undecided voters to support the Liberals in the General Election of 1880, thus ousting Disraeli’s last Conservative government. 

The scrapbook held in Midlothian Local Studies is a collection of cartoons that both support and ridicule William Gladstone. Here are two examples from the scrapbook.  

Gladstone as the Gentle Shepherd

This cartoon is titled ‘Scene from the Gentle Shepherd’ after the well-known play by Allan Ramsay. Gladstone is the man in the kilt and Rosebery is the dog leading him down the road to Midlothian. Mrs Lightheart, Mrs Curiosity and Mrs Blunt discuss them on the corner. ‘It’s maybe the dog’s fault.’ They discuss letting it go and suspect that Gladstone may throw himself on ‘parish’ welfare if not re-elected. 

Gladstone and the Russian Bear

The second cartoon shows Gladstone dancing whilst chained to a trumpet-playing bear. The implication is that he is dancing to the tune of the ‘Russian bear’ on a map of Eastern Europe. The text states: ‘The Tables Turned or Who Dances Now?’ The Afghanistan War (1878-1881) was taking place at this time. It began when Britain sought to extend control from India to discourage Russian advancement into central Asia. It is also worth noting that dancing bears were a common feature of street entertainment in British towns and cities.