1-150-486 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'The Political Tailors', 1867. Gladstone is slumped against the wall with his hands in his pockets. Meanwhile, Disraeli stitches busily at the Reform Bill, with Lord Derby in the background with a large pair of scissors in his hand. Disraeli was a Christian, but his father was a Spanish Jew. Punch always highlighted Disraeli's Jewish features, but here the journal takes things a step further by depicting him as a Jewish tailor (an occupation that earned a living for many working-class Jews in London). Gladstone had proposed a number of amendments to the Reform Bill but had been defeated, with some 45 Liberal MPs voting against him. From the on he seemed to lose the upper hand in the fight. From Punch, or the London Charivari, May 11, 1867.