Disraeli and Victorian conservatism

Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, remains one of the most fascinating and enigmatic figures in British political history. He was the romantic radical who went on to lead the Conservative party; the urban, middle-class Jew who identified himself with a ruling elite based on the aristocracy, land and Anglicanism. In the pursuit of political fame, he played a crucial role in the Conservative rebellion against Sir Robert Peel's Ministry in 1846, but his achievement seemed essentially destructive, helping to consign his party to a generation of almost permanent exclusion from office. At the age of nearly seventy, however, Disraeli finally led the Conservatives to a general election victory and, in retrospect, he was credited with the creation of a 'Tory Democracy'. After his death, Disraeli became an important source of mythological inspiration for Conservatives. This study of Disraeli seeks to provide a balanced coverage of the whole of his career, giving equal weight to the long period he spent as leader of the Opposition as well as examining his rise to the Conservative leadership and his subsequent record as Prime Minister. It is argued that Disraeli, while undoubtedly an opportunist in his political methods, was remarkably consistent in the objectives to which he was committed and in the rhetoric he employed to further those objectives. An assessment is offered of Disraeli's contribution to the late-Victorian Conservative party's political ascendancy and in particular to its image as the 'national' party. Considerable use is made of the rich printed primary sources, including letters and diaries, which relate to Disraeli and his contemporaries.