Hawarden Kite

The Hawarden Kite was a famous British scoop of 1885, an apparent instance of flying a kite, when Herbert Gladstone, son of the then Leader of the Opposition William Ewart Gladstone revealed to Edmund Rogers of the National Press Agency in London that his father now supported home rule for Ireland.

The expression refers to Hawarden Castle, which was Gladstone's home at the time.

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 in 1829, Corn Laws repeal in 1846, and the Reform Act 1867 had been all cross-party acts passed by Conservative 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, 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.

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