William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898) is the Liberal counterpart to Disraeli, serving as British prime minister four times (1868–74, 1880–85, 1886, and 1892–94).

He is the moral compass of the Liberal Party and is famous for his oratory, his religiosity, his liberalism, his rivalry with Disraeli, and for his poor relations with the Queen.

Gladstone's first ministry had seen many reforms including Disestablishment of the Protestant Church of Ireland and the introduction of secret voting.

His party had been defeated in 1874, but makes a comeback based on opposition to Turkey's Bulgarian atrocities against Christians.

Gladstone's Midlothian Campaign of 1879–80 is a pathbreaking introduction of many modern political campaigning techniques.

His Liberal party is increasingly pulled apart on the Irish issue.

He proposes Irish home rule in 1886; it fails to pass and the resulting split in the Liberal Party will keep it out of office for most of the next twenty years.

Gladstone's financial policies, based on the notion of balanced budgets, low taxes and laissez-faire, are suited to a developing capitalist society but cannot respond effectively as economic and social conditions change.

Called the "Grand Old Man" later in life, he will always be a dynamic popular orator who appeals strongly to British workers and lower middle class.

The deeply religious Gladstone brings a new moral tone to politics with his evangelical sensibility and opposition to aristocracy.

His moralism often angers his upper-class opponents (including Queen Victoria, who strongly favours Disraeli), and his heavy-handed control splits the Liberal party.

His foreign policy goal is to create a European order based on cooperation rather than conflict and mutual trust instead of rivalry and suspicion; the rule of law is to supplant the reign of force and self-interest.

This Gladstonian concept of a harmonious Concert of Europe is opposed and ultimately defeated by the Germans with a Bismarckian system of manipulated alliances and antagonisms.

Regarding Ireland, the major Liberal efforts focus on land reform, where they had ended centuries of landlord oppression, and the disestablishment of the (Anglican) Church of Ireland through the Irish Church Act 1869.

Gladstone becomes a champion of Home Rule, but it causes a deep split in the Liberal Party.

Joseph Chamberlain forms the breakaway Liberal Unionist Party that refuses to consider Home Rule for Ireland and becomes allied with the Conservatives.

In terms of historic reforms, Gladstone's first ministry 1868–74 is his most successful.

He is an idealist who insists that government should take the lead in making society more efficient, more fair, and that the government should expand its role in society in order to extend liberty and toleration.

The Education Act of 1870 makes universal schooling a major national policy.

The justice system is made up of multiple overlapping and conflicting courts dating back centuries.

The Judicature Act of 1873 merges them into one central court.

In local government the challenges of sanitation and clean water in fast-growing cities are met with new powers in the realm of public health.

Local government is streamlined in a later Gladstone ministry, and made more powerful and standardized.

Patronage and favoritism are replaced by civil service examinations, downplaying the role of family and aristocracy and emphasizing the role of talent and ability.

The secret ballot had been enacted in 1872 to prevent the buying of votes—politicians will not pay out the money if they are not sure how the person votes.

The Trade Union Act 1871 had lessened the intimidation of employers, made unions legal, and protected their funding from lawsuits.

The Protestant Church of Ireland had been disestablished;Catholics no longer had to pay taxes to it.

While the Navy is in fine shape, the Army is not.

Its organization is confused, its policies unfair, and its punishments are based chiefly on flogging.

At the county level, politicians name the officers of the county militia units, preferring connections in class over capacity.

The regular army calls for enlistments for twenty-one years, but with reforms initiated by Edward Cardwell, Gladstone's War Secretary, enlistments are reduced to six years, plus six years in the reserves.

Regiments are organized by territorial districts, and advanced with modern rifles.

The complex chain of command is simplified, and in wartime the county militias ware under the control of the central war office.

The purchase of officers' commissions is abolished, as is flogging in peacetime.

The reforms are not quite complete: the Duke of Cambridge, as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, still has great authority, despite his mediocre abilities.

Historians will give Gladstone high marks on his successful reform program..