British politician who long served as the leader of the Liberal Party and was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom four separate times (1868–1874, 1880–1885, 1886, and 1892–1894). A pre-eminent Liberal statesman of the Victorian era, he championed electoral reform, administrative reform, educational reform, the resolution of the Irish question, and free trade. Starting his political career as a Tory, he turned toward liberalism under the influence of Robert Peel, ultimately formulating the political ideology known as "Gladstonian Liberalism." He often took a critical stance toward imperialist foreign policies, making strong moral and humanitarian arguments regarding the Bulgarian Atrocities and Irish Home Rule. On the other hand, policies concerning Egypt and Sudan forced military intervention, drawing severe criticism for failures such as the relief of General Gordon. One of the greatest political leaders alongside Benjamin Disraeli in late 19th-century British politics, he was affectionately known as the "Grand Old Man (GOM)."

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