First Gladstone ministry

First Gladstone ministry
First Gladstone ministry
1868–1874
	Gladstone (1874)
Date formed	3 December 1868
Date dissolved	17 February 1874
People and organisations
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Gladstone
Total no. of members	125 appointments
Member party	Liberal Party
Status in legislature	Majority
Opposition party	Conservative Party
Opposition leaders	Benjamin Disraeli; in the House of Commons; Lord Malmesbury (1868–1869); Lord Cairns (1869–1870); Duke of Richmond (1870–1874); in the House of Lords;
History
Election	1868 general election
Outgoing election	1874 general election
Legislature terms	20th UK Parliament; lost a vote of confidence
Predecessor	Third Derby–Disraeli ministry
Successor	Second Disraeli ministry

The Conservative government under Benjamin Disraeli had been defeated at the 1868 general election, so in December 1868 the victorious William Gladstone formed his first government. He introduced reforms in the British Army (including the abolition of the purchase system), the legal system (establishing the Supreme Court of Judicature) and the Civil Service, and disestablished the Church of Ireland. In foreign affairs he pursued a peaceful policy. His ministry was defeated in the 1874 election, whereupon Disraeli formed a ministry and Gladstone retired as Leader of the Liberal Party.^[1]