Earl of Rosebery (1894-5) - Prime Minister - Parliament

Archibald Philip Primrose was born in 1847 and educated at Eton and Oxford. He progressed greatly under Gladstone as under-secretary of the home department and foreign secretary. For a brief spell he turned his attention to local politics and was chairman of the London County Council. It was under Gladstone’s recommendations that the Queen appointed Primrose as the Prime Minister but his period in office was short as the Liberal party was defeated in the 1895 election. During the Boer War he was an imperialist and gradually moved away from his earlier progressive views.

"Does this fact of your (Australia) being a nation... imply separation from the Empire? God forbid! There is no need for any nation, however great, leaving the Empire, because the Empire is a Commonwealth of Nations"

"There are two supreme pleasures in life. One is ideal, the other real. The ideal is when a man receives the seals of office from his Sovereign. The real pleasure comes when he hands them back"