The Hawarden Kite was a famous
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
newspaper
scoop
Scoop, Scoops or The scoop may refer to:
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* Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging
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of December 1885, that Liberal Party leader William Gladstone now supported
home rule
Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
for Ireland. It was an instance of
"kite-flying", made by
Herbert Gladstone
Herbert John Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone, (7 January 1854 – 6 March 1930) was a British Liberal politician. The youngest son of William Ewart Gladstone, he was Home Secretary from 1905 to 1910 and Governor-General of the Union of South ...
, son of the Leader of the Opposition
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
, who often served as his father's secretary. It was given to
Edmund Rogers
Edmund Dawson Rogers (7 August 1823 – 28 September 1910), was an English journalist and spiritualist. He was the first editor of the Eastern Daily Press and the founder of the National Press Agency.
Background and education
The son of John an ...
of the National Press Agency in London. The statement was accurate but it is unknown whether the father knew and approved of releasing it to the press. The bombshell announcement resulted in the fall of Lord Salisbury's Conservative government. Irish Nationalists, led by
Charles Parnell's
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...
, held the balance of power in Parliament. Gladstone's conversion to Home Rule convinced them to switch away from the Conservatives and support the Liberals using the 86 seats in Parliament they controlled.
The expression refers to
Hawarden Castle, which was Gladstone's home.
Background
Although there is some historical debate surrounding the issue, the consensus is that the Hawarden Kite incident was a political disaster for William Gladstone. Gladstone had converted to Home Rule sometime during his second prime ministry of 1880–1885; however, he knew that passing it through Parliament, particularly the House of Lords, would be very troublesome. Therefore, Gladstone had sought cross-party agreement on the issue of home rule, thinking that the Conservatives should pass to make it easier to get it through the House of Lords.
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
in 1829,
Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They wer ...
repeal in 1846, and the
Reform Act 1867
The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 (known as the Reform Act 1867 or the Second Reform Act) was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the first ...
had been all cross-party acts passed by
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
governments.
Gladstone also felt that the
Electoral Act of 1884, which increased the franchise, would give him increased and perhaps permanent majorities in subsequent elections. Formerly a Conservative MP, he was now head of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, and considered that support from the
Irish Home Rule MPs would further strengthen his position in the House of Commons. The Irish Party was then a third force in parliament.
Meanwhile, in London on 1 August 1885 the Conservative minister
Lord Carnarvon
Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are historically spelled ''Caernarfon,'' havi ...
,
Viceroy of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingd ...
, had met
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the ...
, the Irish Home Rule leader, for a confidential discussion to see how far each could meet the other's policy. Parnell assumed that Carnarvon was representing the Cabinet and would agree to his proposals that Carnarvon described as "surprisingly moderate".
Conservative leader
Lord Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...
wanted the meeting kept secret, now that he knew Parnell's position, and hoped also that Parnell would mention the discussion to Gladstone. This might move Gladstone to up the ante and formally declare his support for Home Rule, offering slightly more than Parnell had indicated to Carnarvon; Salisbury believed that such a declaration would split the Liberals.
The kite
On 17 December 1885 Gladstone's son, Herbert, had a letter published in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
''. It included: "Nothing could induce me to countenance separation, but if five-sixths of the Irish people wish to have a Parliament in Dublin, for the management of their own local affairs, I say, in the name of justice, and wisdom, let them have it."
This promised a large amount of local control within Ireland, but Ireland would remain linked to Britain, with Queen Victoria as head of state, and it would remain in the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
. The policy was strongly opposed by Protestants in Ireland, who supported the Conservatives. Gladstone hoped that Salisbury might feel honour-bound to allow his MPs to vote for and against the policy, thereby splitting the Conservatives.
Reactions
Once news of Gladstone's conversion came to light following the Hawarden Kite, Liberals and Irish Nationalist MPs voted together to end Lord Salisbury's caretaker administration. This led Salisbury to believe Gladstone was playing games with him and he remained opposed to Irish home rule.
Salisbury had commented on 9 November: "The integrity of the Empire is more precious to us than any possession we can have. We are bound by motives, not only of expediency, not only of legal principle, but by motives of honour, to protect the minority."
[Roberts, p.363]
That minority in Ireland formed the
Irish Unionist Alliance
The Irish Unionist Alliance (IUA), also known as the Irish Unionist Party, Irish Unionists or simply the Unionists, was a unionist political party founded in Ireland in 1891 from a merger of the Irish Conservative Party and the Irish Loyal and ...
and the loyalist
Orange Order increased its numbers markedly.
Gladstone won the
1885 United Kingdom general election, but when he proposed the
Government of Ireland Bill later in 1886, 93 Liberal MPs voted against, causing the
1886 United Kingdom general election. The Liberals opposed to Home Rule contested as the
Liberal Unionist Party, and Lord Salisbury became prime minister with their support.
Notes
{{reflist
Home rule in Ireland
William Ewart Gladstone
1885 in the United Kingdom