A Life of Sir John Eldon Gorst by Archie Hunter (9780714651804)

Description - A Life of Sir John Eldon Gorst by Archie Hunter

This is the first book to tell the story of one of the most contentious figures in Victorian and Edwardian politics: that of the independent-minded and exceptionally able Conservative politician, Sir John Eldon Gorst. As a young man, Gorst spent three and a half turbulent years in New Zealand at the time of the Maori wars, before returning and being called to the Bar. However, before he could properly establish his law practice, Gorst was distracted by the lure of politics, which would be his lifelong passion. He became a Conservative MP in 1866, and was thereafter in the House of Commons on and off for 32 years, where he acquired a reputation as a notable parliamentarian, being described by some as second only to Joseph Chamberlain as a debater. Gorst vigorously promoted his ideas, sometimes to the dismay of his colleagues. Provocatively, when he was no longer an MP, Gorst dedicated a book to "The Labour Members of the House of Commons". Gorst ended his political life, aged 75, as a Liberal candidate at the 1910 election. He would, however, live to see many of the social reforms he had tirelessly advocated from within the Tory Party implemented by Asquith's Liberal gov

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