Edward
Stanley, the son of the 13th Earl of Derby, was born at
Knowsley Park, Lancashire in 1799. He was educated at Eton
and Christ College, Oxford and entered
parliament for Stockbridge in 1820. The seat had been purchased for
him by his father from Joseph Barham, a West Indian planter who was
in financial difficulties.
Stanley supported the Whigs in Parliament
but did not make a speech during his four years in the House
of Commons. In 1826 he moved from Stockbridge to Preston,
a constituency where one of the candidates was selected by the Derby
family and the other by the people of the town.
Although a supporter of the Whigs, Stanley agreed in 1827 to join
the Tory government led by George
Canning. Stanley became under secretary of the colonies and retained
the post under the next Prime Minister, Lord
Goderich. However, Stanley considered the Duke
of Wellington too reactionary and refused to serve in his administration
(1828-1830).
Stanley returned to government in 1830 when he accepted the post of
chief secretary of Ireland under the Whig
Prime Minister, Earl Grey. Stanley did not
share Grey's enthusiasm for parliamentary reform and was one of the
main reasons why he was defeated at Preston
by Henry Orator Hunt in the election that
was held that year. He was not out of the House
of Commons for long and he returned as MP for Windsor in February
1831.
Stanley's views become more conservative as he grew older and by 1833
considered Earl Grey to be too radical. In
May of that year he left the government and became the leader of a
group of about fifty independent MPs who obtained the name Stanleyites.
In 1841 Stanley agreed to join the Conservative
government led by Robert Peel. Stanley became
colonial secretary and was responsible for the Canadian Corn Bill.
However, he disagreed with the policy of Sir
Robert Peel to repeal the Corn Laws in
Britain. Stanley now became one of the leader of the group that became
known as the Protectionists.
In 1851 Stanley succeeded his father as 14th Earl of Derby. When the
leader of the Whigs, Lord
John Russell, resigned as Prime Minister in 1852, the Earl of
Derby tried to form a government. Several leading figures, including
Lord Palmerston and the Duke
of Wellington refused to join the administration. One man who
did accept a post was his son, Edward Stanley,
who became under secretary for foreign affairs. When the House
of Commons defeated his budget proposals in December 1852, he
resigned.
Six years later the Earl of Derby returned as head of a minority government.
Benjamin Disraeli, Derby's Chancellor
of the Exchequer, suggested that Conservatives should extend the franchise.
Disraeli told Derby that "our party is now a corpse, but it appears
to me that, in the present perplexed state of affairs, a Conservative
public pledge to parliamentary reform, a bold and decided course,
might not only put us on our legs, but greatly help the country."
Derby rejected the idea and as his own son, Edward
Stanley, said to Disraeli, "he does not care for office,
but wishes to keep things as they are and impede progress." In
February 1858, Derby's government resigned after losing a vote of
no confidence.
In 1866 the Earl of Derby became Prime Minister for a third time.
Benjamin Disraeli, the new leader of
Hose of Commons, pointed out that although attempts by Lord
John Russell and William Gladstone
to extend the franchise had failed, he believed that if the Liberals
returned to power, they would certainly try again. Disraeli argued
that unless the Conservatives took
action they were in danger of being seen as an anti-reform party.
This time Derby accepted Disraeli's arguments and in 1867 his government
proposed a new Reform Act. Although some members of the Cabinet such
as Lord Carnarvon and Lord Cranborne (later the Marquis
of Salisbury) resigned in protest against this extension of democracy,
the 1867 Reform Act was passed.
By 1868 the Earl of Derby was in poor health and he was forced to
retire from office and was replaced by Benjamin
Disraeli. Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, died later that
year.
