= Archibald Primrose = '''Archibald Primrose''' was a [[UnitedKingdom/LiberalParty|Liberal]] politician, member of the [[UnitedKingdom/Parliament|House of Lords]], and [[UnitedKingdom/PrimeMinisters|prime minister]] of the [[UnitedKingdom/Democratization|United Kingdom]]. <> ---- == History == Archibald was the son of '''Archbald Primrose''' (same name) and the grandson of '''Archbald Primrose''' (same name), '''earl of Rosebury'''. His father died in 1851, so from a very young age he was known by the courtesy title of '''lord of Dalmeny'''. His grandfather then died in 1868, leaving him to inherit the earldom and a seat in the [[UnitedKingdom/Parliament|House of Lords]]. (Note that the earldom, as a Scottish peerage, did not entitle a seat in the Lords; but the subsidiary '''barony of Rosebury''', created in 1828 in the English peerage, did.) Primrose was an ardent imperialist and was appointed '''foreign secretary''' under [[UnitedKingdom/WilliamEwartGladstone|Gladstone]]. Furthermore, he succeeded Gladstone as leader of the [[UnitedKingdom/LiberalParty|Liberals]] and as [[UnitedKingdom/PrimeMinisters|prime minister]]. In June 1895, the government narrowly lost a vote on army supply. Primrose chose to interpret this as a vote of confidence, and dissolved the Parliament. The Liberals then lost the election of the following month in a landslide, and he resigned as party leader the next year. His imperialist positions made him an outcast in the party as it evolved under [[UnitedKingdom/HenryCampbellBannerman|Campbell-Bannerman]]. ---- CategoryRicottone