On This Day
11 August 1873
Gladstone makes a radical choice for his new Chancellor of the Exchequer
As part of a cabinet reshuffle Robert Lowe the previous Chancellor moved to the Home Office and Gladstone, bowing to pressure from his cabinet colleagues, appointed himself, thus becoming one of very few individuals to hold two substantial offices of state simultaneously. He continued in the role of Prime Minister and Chancellor until his government fell in February 1874. Interestingly, Gladstone repeated this trick in 1880 when he also combined the offices of Prime Minister and Chancellor for two years.