... Primarily Gladstone wanted to provide opportunities for all to pay their part in the 'inevitable progress of society envisaged by Liberalism'. His method was an attempt to provide the right moral and material conditions, which would enable the state to open the doors to self-improvement. To Gladstone social and domestic reform or "construction" as he called it was "taking into the hands of the state the business of the individual man." 'The State could push the way to social reform, but it ought not to push the individual in that direction'. The widening of the franchise to develop and organise new sources of electoral power compelled Disraeli's conservative party. The traditional conservative strength in the counties was not sufficient to give the party a majority, whilst the old alliance of landlord and tenant, which was the root of their strength, was beginning to crack under the impact of the economic downturn. ...

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