Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil was a Conservative politician, member of the Parliament, and prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Contents
History
Robert was a younger son of James Gascoyne-Cecil, marquess of Salisbury.
He was first elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative in 1853.
He first entered government in 1865 under Smith-Stanley; he led the India Office.
In 1867, as a protest against Disraeli's Reform Act, Gascoyne-Cecil resigned.
His father died in 1868, and by then both of his elder brothers had also died, leaving him to inherit his father's titles and seat in House of Lords.
In 1874, Disraeli returned him to government to lead the India Office again, then the foreign office in 1878. The Conservatives however lost the April 1880 general elections, leading to the second Gladstone government.
Following the disastrous Siege of Khartoum, Gladstone resigned in July 1885. Gascoyne-Cecil led a brief minority government, calling snap elections in November that saw a slight increase to the Conservative minority, before Gladstone recovered support in February. Snap elections were again held in July 1886 and the Conservatives this time won a clear majority.
The July 1992 elections saw the Conservatives lose their majority, and Gascoyne-Cecil resigned.
Gladstone retired in 1894, leaving Primrose to succeed as prime minister. Primrose chose to interpret a lost vote on army supply as a vote of confidence, and called for snap elections in June 1895. The Conservatives then won a commanding majority in the election of the following month. Gascoyne-Cecil returned to lead a third government.
Gascoyne-Cecil proposed raising tariffs to raise funds after the Boer War. The issue of tariff reform would continue to fragment the Conservatives for over a decade, however.
He resigned from government in 1902, leaving his nephew Balfour to succeed as PM and party leader. He died the next year.
Policies
Gascoyne-Cecil is effectively the last lord to serve as prime minister, leaving aside Douglas-Home who established a norm by resigning his peerage upon said election.
Gascoyne-Cecil established the two power standard: the Royal Navy was to have the power of the next two largest navies, combined.