08 June 1886

The Liberal government is defeated on the Home Rule Bill

The Government of Ireland Bill, to give it its official title, was rejected by the House of Commons by 341 votes to 311 by a combination of Tories and 93 dissenting Liberals who had already come to be known as the Liberal Unionists. Gladstone had drafted the bill himself but this very personal approach alienated many within his party who believed the bill flawed and neither did it fully convince the Irish Nationalists. The defeat of the bill led to a general election the following month and the end of Gladstone’s third ministry.