Disraeli and Gladstone: The Rival Titans of Victorian Politics

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), of Jewish origin converted to Anglicanism, rose exceptionally in Conservative politics despite the era's social prejudices, having begun his career as a novelist before committing fully to political life. He led the protectionist Conservative faction after the 1846 split over the Corn Laws and, in the 1840s, developed the doctrine of "One Nation Toryism," proposing a social alliance between the traditional aristocracy and the working class against middle-class liberalism, expressed in his novel Sybil, or The Two Nations (1845). As Home Secretary he decisively pushed through the Second Reform Act of 1867, and he served as prime minister briefly in 1868 and then more lastingly between 1874 and 1880.