1-150-463 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'The First Question', 1866. The new Prime Minister, Lord Derby, and his Chancellor, Disraeli, take the air. They are accosted by the working-man who wishes to know what the new Conservative administration is going to do for him. The Liberals had recently tried to reintroduce the matter of parliamentary reform to the House of Commons. Things went badly for them, with opposition coming from all sides. Although Gladstone had tried to mend matters by combining the two key Bills of Franchise and Redistribution into one Reform Bill, it had become plain that the government could not hope to carry the day. Lord Russell's ministry resigned without taking the matter to the country, and so the Conservative Lord Derby was invited to take office. From Punch, or the London Charivari, July 7, 1866.