Home > UK general election, 1880

In the UK general election of 1880, also known as the Midlothian Campaign, the Liberals, led by the fierce oratory of retired former Liberal leader William Gladstone in attacking the supposedly immoral foreign policy of the Beaconsfield government, secured one of their largest ever majorities, leaving the Conservatives a distant second. As a result of the campaign, the Liberal leaders, Lord Hartington and Lord Granville, withdrew in favor of Gladstone, who thus became prime minister a second time.