Charles Dilke
| Sir Charles Dilke, Bt | |
|---|---|
Image from an Ogden's Cigarette Card
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| Born | 4 September 1843 |
| Died | 26 January 1911 (aged 67) |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Trinity Hall, Cambridge |
| Known for |
Liberal Party MP President of the Local Government Board, 1882–1885 |
| Spouse(s) | Emilia Strong (1840–1904) |
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet PC (4 September 1843 – 26 January 1911) was an English Liberal and Radical politician. A republican in the early 1870s, he later became a leader in the radical challenge to Whig control of the Liberal Party, making a number of important contributions, including the legislation increasing democracy in 1883-1885, his support of the growing labour and feminist movements and his prolific writings on international affairs.
Touted as a future prime minister, his aspirations to higher political office were effectively terminated in 1885 after a notorious and well-publicised divorce case.
His disgrace and the alignment of Joseph Chamberlain with the Conservatives both greatly weakened the radical cause.
Dilke was the son of Sir Charles Dilke, 1st Baronet. He was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he was President of the Cambridge Union Society. His second wife was the author, art historian, feminist and trade unionist Emily Francis Pattison, née Strong (widow of Rev. Mark Pattison), subsequently known as Lady Dilke.
Despite being a radical, Dilke was also an imperialist; he argued for British imperial domination in his bestselling 1868 book, Greater Britain.
Dilke became Liberal Member of Parliament for Chelsea in 1868, which he held until 1886.
In 1871, Dilke caused controversy when he criticised the British monarchy and argued that the United Kingdom should adopt a republican form of government; public criticism made Dilke recant that.
He was Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1880 to 1882, during Gladstone's second government, and was admitted to the Privy Council in 1882. In December of that year, he entered the cabinet as President of the Local Government Board, serving until 1885. A leading and determined radical within the party, he negotiated the passage of the Third Reform Act, which the Conservatives allowed through the House of Lords, in return for a redistribution that they calculated to be marginally favourable to themselves. (The granting of the vote to agricultural labourers threatened Conservative dominance of rural seats, but many double-member seats were abolished, with seats redistributed to suburbia, where Conservative support was growing.) He also supported laws giving the municipal franchise to women, legalising labour unions, improving working conditions and limiting working hours. He was also one of the earliest campaigners for universal schooling.
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