Fourth Party

Fourth Party was the name given facetiously to a parliamentary ginger group in the Conservative Party in 1880 (the other three being Liberals, Conservatives, and Irish). It consisted of Lord Randolph Churchill, J. E. Gorst, Sir H. D. Wolff, and, at some distance, Arthur Balfour. The contempt of the Fourth Party was as much directed at its own front bench as at Gladstone's administration. The main achievement of the group was to launch the spectacular career of Lord Randolph.

The "Fourth Party" was a label given to a quartet of British MPs, Lord Randolph Churchill, Henry Drummond Wolff, John Gorst and Arthur Balfour, in the 1880-1885 parliament.

They attacked what they saw as the weakness of both the Liberal government and the Conservative opposition. Despite the label, they were all backbench members of the Conservative Party.

References

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