View source for Lord Randolph Churchill

{{short description|British politician (1849&ndash;1895)}}
{{about||his grandson|Randolph Churchill|the biography|Lord Randolph Churchill (book){{!}}''Lord Randolph Churchill'' (book)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name             = Lord Randolph Churchill
| honorific-suffix = 
| image            = Lord Randolph Churchill.jpg
| imagesize        = 
| smallimage       = 
| caption          = Churchill in 1883
| office           = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| term_start       = 3 August 1886
| term_end         = 22 December 1886
| primeminister    = [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|The Marquess of Salisbury]]
| predecessor      = [[William Vernon Harcourt (politician)|William Vernon Harcourt]]
| successor        = [[George Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen|George Goschen]]
| office2          = [[Leader of the House of Commons]]
| term_start2      = 3 August 1886
| term_end2        = 14 January 1887
| primeminister2   = The Marquess of Salisbury
| predecessor2     = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| successor2       = [[William Henry Smith (1825–1891)|William Henry Smith]]
| office4          = [[Secretary of State for India]]
| term_start4      = 24 June 1885
| term_end4        = 28 January 1886
| primeminister4   = The Marquess of Salisbury
| preceded4        = [[John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley|The Earl of Kimberley]]
| succeeded4       = The Earl of Kimberley
| office3          = [[Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Leader of the Commons]]
| term_start3      = 3 August 1886
| term_end3        = 14 January 1887
| 1blankname3      = Overall leader
| 1namedata3       = The Marquess of Salisbury
| predecessor3     = [[Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn|The Earl St Aldwyn]]
| successor3       = William Henry Smith
| birth_name       = Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill
| birth_date       = 13 February 1849
| birth_place      = [[Belgravia]], London, England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1895|1|24|1849|2|13|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Westminster]], London, England
| resting_place    = [[St Martin's Church, Bladon]]
| party            = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| spouse           = {{marriage|[[Lady Randolph Churchill|Jennie Jerome]]|15 April 1874}}
| children         = {{hlist|[[Winston Churchill|Winston]]|[[Jack Churchill (1880–1947)|Jack]]}}
| parents          = {{ubl|[[John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough]]|[[Frances Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough|Lady Frances Vane]]}}
| profession       = Politician
| education        = {{ubl|[[Cheam School]]|[[Eton College]]}}
| alma_mater       = [[Merton College, Oxford]]
| signature        = Lord Randolph Churchill Signature.jpg
}}
{{One-nation conservatism}}
'''Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill'''{{efn|This British person has the [[Double-barrelled name#British tradition|double-barrelled surname]] ''[[Spencer-Churchill]]'', but is known by the surname ''Churchill''.}} (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British aristocrat and politician. He was a [[Tory]] radical who coined the term "[[One-nation conservatism|Tory democracy]]" and participated in the creation of the "National Union of the Conservative Party".

Churchill first came to public attention in 1878 as an outspoken exponent of independent Conservatism criticising the old guard and the Conservative front bench. By 1885, he had formulated the policy of progressive Conservatism which was known as "[[Tory Democracy]]".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Quinault |first=R. E. |date=March 1979 |title=Lord Randolph Churchill and Tory Democracy, 1880–1885 |journal=The Historical Journal |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=141–165 |doi=10.1017/S0018246X0001671X |issn=0018-246X |doi-access=free}}</ref> In 1884, at the conference of the [[National Union of Conservative Associations]], he was nominated chairman, despite the opposition of parliamentary leaders. He built up Tory Democracy in towns and the Conservatives won the majority of English boroughs in 1885, strengthened by the part he played in events immediately preceding the fall of the Liberal government.

In 1885, he was appointed [[Secretary of State for India]] in the Salisbury government. Despite entering office with a reputation for progressive views on India, his tenure was 'traditionally reactionary', many of his policies focused on exploiting India and his attitude towards the native Indians was similarly illiberal. However, he was most known during that time for his unilateral decision to invade and annex Burma in the very costly [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]].

In 1886, Churchill was appointed [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] and [[Leader of the House of Commons]].<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite book |last=Low |first=Sidney James Mark |title=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=1911 |volume=6 |page=346|chapter=Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer}}</ref> As Chancellor, he attracted both admiration and criticism. He became relatively isolated in the cabinet and tried to use his public support to impose his positions on his colleagues. After proposing a budget that surprised and annoyed his colleagues, he threatened to resign in order to secure his position on armed forces expenditure. To his surprise, the Prime Minister accepted his resignation effectively ending his career. For the next few years, there was some speculation that he might return to frontline politics but this did not materialise. His health declined in the 1890s and he died in late 1894 leaving behind a large personal estate. The elder of his two sons, [[Winston Churchill]], was British Prime Minister during World War II.

==Early life==
[[File:Lord Randolph Churchill by Hills and Saunders, 1860s.jpg|150px|thumb|left|Churchill in the 1860s]]
Born at 3 [[Wilton Terrace]], [[Belgravia]], London, Randolph was the third son of [[John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough|John Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford]], and his wife the Marchioness of Blandford (''[[née]]'' [[Frances Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough|Lady Frances Vane]]). His parents became the (seventh) [[Duke of Marlborough (title)|Duke]] and Duchess of Marlborough upon the death of John's father in 1857.<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB|id=5404|title=Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer|first=Roland|last=Quinault}}</ref> As the younger son of a marquess, Randolph had the [[Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom|courtesy title]] "lord"; as a commoner, he could sit in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].

Churchill attended [[Cheam School|Tabor's Preparatory School, Cheam]], then from 1863 [[Eton College]], where he remained until 1865.<ref name="ODNB"/> He did not stand out either at academic work or sport while at Eton; his contemporaries described him as a vivacious and rather unruly boy.<ref name="EB1911"></ref> Among the lifelong friendships he made at school were with [[Arthur Balfour]] and [[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|Archibald Primrose]] (later Lord Rosebery).<ref name="ODNB"/>

In October 1867, Churchill matriculated at [[Merton College, Oxford]]. At Oxford, Primrose – now with his own courtesy title of ''Lord Dalmeny'' – was along with Churchill a member of the [[Bullingdon Club]], and joined him at the club's champagne-fuelled parties.<ref name="ReferenceC">[[Frank Harris]], ''[[My Life and Loves]]'', 1922–1927; p. 483.</ref> Randolph was frequently in trouble with the university authorities for drunkenness, smoking in academic dress, and smashing windows at the [[Randolph Hotel, Oxford|Randolph Hotel]]. His rowdy behaviour was infectious, rubbing off on friends and contemporaries; he gained a reputation as an ''enfant terrible''.<ref>[[Leo McKinstry]], ''Rosebery: Statesman in Turmoil'', pp. 23, 33.</ref> He had a liking for hunting, but was also a well-read historian. He took a [[Second class honours|second]] in [[jurisprudence]] and modern history in 1870.<ref name="ODNB"/>

Churchill experienced no early doubts but made mistakes, as alluded to in Rosebery's biography.<ref>Rosebery, Ld Randolph, (1906);[[Leo McKinstry]], ''Rosebery: Statesman in Turmoil'', p. 58.</ref> He never regretted being an early friend and admirer of the Disraelis. His behaviour was, however, the later cause of dissension in his relations with a colder, more aloof, disciplinarian [[Lord Salisbury|Salisbury]]. In 1871 Churchill and his elder brother [[George Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough|George]] were initiated into the rites of [[Freemasonry]], as later his son Winston would be.<ref>{{cite web |last=Churchill |first=Randolph |title=Masonic Papers |url=http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/freemasonry_england.html |work=The Development of the Craft in England |publisher=freemasons-freemasonary.com |access-date=30 July 2012}}</ref>

At the general election of 1874 Churchill was elected to Parliament as [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] member for [[Woodstock (UK Parliament constituency)|Woodstock]], near the family seat of [[Blenheim Palace]], defeating [[George Charles Brodrick|George Brodrick]], a Fellow of Merton. His [[maiden speech]], delivered in his first session, prompted compliments from [[William Vernon Harcourt (politician)|William Harcourt]] and [[Benjamin Disraeli]], who wrote to the Queen of Churchill's "energy and natural flow".<ref name="ODNB"/>

Churchill was a friend of [[Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild]], and received "extensive loans" from the Rothschilds. He reported on the mining industry in South Africa on their behalf, where their agent [[Cecil Rhodes]] was consolidating mining deposits which ultimately led to the creation of [[De Beers]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rothschildarchive.org/business/rothschild_clients |title=The Rothschild Archive |website=rothschildarchive.org |access-date=24 July 2017}}</ref>

==Marriage and medical condition==
[[File:Lord Randolph Churchill and Lady Jennie Jerome (1874) (A).jpg|thumb|right|Randolph and Jennie Churchill in Paris (1874). Photo by [[Georges Penabert]].]]
Churchill was married at the [[Embassy of the United Kingdom, Paris|British Embassy in Paris]] on 15 April 1874 to [[Lady Randolph Churchill|Jennie Jerome]], daughter of [[Leonard Jerome]], an American businessman. The couple had two sons: [[Winston Churchill|Winston]] and [[Jack Churchill (1880–1947)|Jack]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leslie |first=Anita |title=Jennie: The Life of Lady Randolph Churchill |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1969}}</ref>

In January 1875, weeks after Winston's birth, Churchill made repeated visits to Dr [[Oscar Clayton]].<ref name="Morgan">Ted Morgan, ''Churchill: Young Man in a Hurry, 1874–1915'' (1984), p. 23.</ref> He had twenty years to live, but suffered from debilitating illness, particularly in his last decade. Quinault, writing in the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', theorises that Churchill was probably passing through the stages of [[secondary syphilis]] and then [[tertiary syphilis]], but mentions a [[brain tumour]] and [[multiple sclerosis]] as other possible causes.<ref name="ODNB"/> Whatever the true source of this illness, Churchill was certainly treated for [[syphilis]], and it has been suggested that he may have been suffering from symptoms related to the [[mercury (element)|mercury-based]] medication which was used in such cases at the time.<ref name=foster83>{{cite book |last=Foster |first=R. F. |title=Lord Randolph Churchill: A Political Life |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1983 |isbn=978-0-1982-2756-4}}</ref>{{rp|218}} Clayton was a society doctor and specialist in the treatment of syphilis who worked from his practice at 5 [[Harley Street]].<ref name="Morgan"/> [[Robson Roose]], who was the Churchills' family doctor in the 1880s, had written on syphilis as a root cause of debilitating disease, and subsequently diagnosed it in Churchill's case before referring him to the specialist [[Thomas Buzzard]], and continuing to prescribe [[potassium iodide]] and mercury.{{r|foster83|p=218}}

According to [[Frank Harris]], who published the allegation in autobiography, ''[[My Life and Loves]]'' (1922–1927), "Randolph had caught syphilis".<ref name="Morgan"/> He relied on a story by [[Louis Jennings]], an associate of Randolph's who had later fallen out with him. John H. Mather of the [[National Churchill Library and Center]] called into question Harris's veracity, and offered the alternative theory of a "left side brain tumour". Mather noted that "[t]here is no indication that Lady Randolph or her sons were infected with syphilis."<ref name="maladiesetmort">{{cite news |url=http://www.winstonchurchill.org/resources/myths/144-lord-randolph-churchill-maladies-et-mort |title=Lord Randolph Churchill: Maladies et Mort |access-date=17 August 2015}}</ref> Additionally, author Richard M. Langworth claims that Roose never actually identified the disease that Randolph was suffering from as syphilis, instead using the term "general paralysis", which in that period "suggested not only syphilis but nervous exhaustion". Langworth also states that there is "no evidence that Roose or Buzzard treated Lord Randolph with mercury or potassium iodide", arguing that "their toxic effects, such as a distinctive grey pallor, would have been evident."<ref name="langworth">{{cite book |last=Langworth |first=Richard M. |author-link=Richard M. Langworth |title=Winston Churchill, Myth and Reality: What He Actually Did and Said |publisher=McFarland |date=2017 |page=22 |isbn=978-1-4766-7460-5}}</ref>

==Career==
===The "Fourth Party"===
{{main|Fourth Party}}
[[File:The Fourth Party Vanity Fair 1 December 1880.jpg|thumb|left|{{center|"The [[Fourth Party]]": Spencer-Churchill, Balfour, Drummond-Wolff and Gorst as caricatured by Spy ([[Leslie Ward]]) in ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', 1 December 1880}}]]
It was not until 1878 that he came to public notice as the exponent of independent Conservatism. He made a series of furious attacks on [[Sir Stafford Northcote]], [[Richard Assheton Cross, 1st Viscount Cross|R. A. Cross]], and other prominent members of the "old gang". [[George Sclater-Booth, 1st Baron Basing|George Sclater-Booth]] (afterwards 1st Baron Basing), [[President of the Local Government Board]], was a specific target, and the minister's County Government Bill was fiercely denounced as the "crowning dishonour to Tory principles", and the "supreme violation of political honesty".<ref name="EB1911"></ref> Lord Randolph's attitude, and the vituperative fluency of his invective, made him a parliamentary figure of some importance before the dissolution of the 1874 parliament, though he was not yet taken quite seriously, owing to his high-pitched hysterical laugh.<ref name="Blake85">{{cite book |last=Blake |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Blake, Baron Blake |title=The Conservative Party from Peel to Thatcher |publisher=Methuen |date=1985 |isbn=978-0-4135-8140-2}}</ref>{{rp|134–135}}

In the new parliament of 1880 he speedily began to play a more notable role. Along with [[Henry Drummond Wolff]], [[John Eldon Gorst|John Gorst]] and occasionally Arthur Balfour, he made himself known as the audacious opponent of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] administration and the unsparing critic of the Conservative front bench. The "[[Fourth Party|fourth party]]", as it was nicknamed, at first did little damage to the government, but awakened the opposition from its apathy; Churchill roused the Conservatives by leading resistance to [[Charles Bradlaugh]], the member for [[Northampton (UK Parliament constituency)|Northampton]], who as an avowed atheist or agnostic was prepared to take the parliamentary oath only under protest. Stafford Northcote, the Conservative leader in the Lower House, was forced to take a strong line on this difficult question by the energy of the fourth party.<ref name="EB1911"></ref>

The controversy over Bradlaugh's seat showed that Lord Randolph Churchill was a parliamentary champion who added to his audacity much tactical skill and shrewdness. He continued to play a conspicuous part throughout the parliament of 1880–85, targeting [[William Ewart Gladstone]] as well as the Conservative front bench, some of whose members, particularly [[R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross|Sir Richard Cross]] and [[William Henry Smith (1825–1891)|William Henry Smith]], he singled out for attack when they opposed the reduced Army estimates.<ref name="EB1911"></ref>This would be the ostensible cause for his resignation because Salisbury failed to support his Chancellor in cabinet. They opposed his unionist politics of 'economising' by Tory tradition, making Randolph grow to hate cabinet meetings.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

From the beginning of the [[History of Modern Egypt|Egyptian]] imbroglio Lord Randolph was emphatically opposed to almost every step taken by the government. He declared that the suppression of [[‘Urabi Revolt|Urabi Pasha's rebellion]] was an error, and the restoration of the [[khedive]]'s authority a crime. He called Gladstone the "[[Moloch]] of [[Midlothian (UK Parliament constituency) (1708–1918)|Midlothian]]", for whom torrents of blood had been shed in Africa. He was equally severe on the domestic policy of the administration, and was particularly bitter in his criticism of the [[Kilmainham Treaty]] and the rapprochement between the Gladstonians and the [[Charles Stewart Parnell|Parnellites]].<ref name="EB1911"></ref>

===Tory Democracy===
[[File:Randolph Churchill.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Lord Randolph Churchill]]
By 1885 he had formulated the policy of progressive Conservatism which was known as "[[Tory Democracy]]".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Quinault |first=R. E. |title=Lord Randolph Churchill and Tory Democracy, 1880–1885 |journal=The Historical Journal |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=141–165 |date=March 1979 |issn=0018-246X |doi=10.1017/S0018246X0001671X |doi-access=free}}</ref> He declared that the Conservatives ought to adopt, rather than oppose, popular reforms, and to challenge the claims of the Liberals to pose as champions of the masses. His views were largely accepted by the official Conservative leaders in the treatment of the Gladstonian [[Representation of the People Act 1884]]. Lord Randolph insisted that the principle of the bill should be accepted by the opposition, and that resistance should be focused on the refusal of the government to combine with it a scheme of redistribution. The prominent, and on the whole judicious and successful, part he played in the debates on these questions, still further increased his influence with the rank and file of the Conservatives in the constituencies.<ref name="EB1911"></ref>

At the same time he was actively spreading his gospel of democratic Toryism in a series of platform campaigns. In 1883 and 1884 he went to the radical stronghold of [[Birmingham]], and in the latter year took part in a Conservative garden party at Aston Manor, at which his opponents paid him the compliment of raising a serious riot. He gave constant attention to the party organisation, which had fallen into considerable disorder after 1880, and was an active promoter of the [[Primrose League]], which owed its origin to the inspiration of one of his own “fourth party” colleagues.<ref name="EB1911"></ref>

===Central Office and National Union===
In 1884 progressive Toryism won. At the conference of the [[National Union of Conservative Associations]], Lord Randolph was nominated chairman, despite the opposition of the parliamentary leaders. A split was averted by Lord Randolph's voluntary resignation which he had done his best to engineer; but the episode had confirmed his title to a leading place in the Tory ranks.<ref name="EB1911"></ref>{{r|Blake85|p=145}}

He built up Tory Democracy in the towns reinforcing the urban middle classes' part in the party, while simultaneously including a working-class element. His unsuccessful bid for the party leadership was inextricably part of the National Union's attempt to control the party organization.{{r|Blake85|p=152}} It had originally been founded by Tory peers to organize propaganda to attract working men's votes, registration, choose candidates, conduct elections; associations were linked to provincial unions. Lord Randolph was not the originator but his campaign of 1884 encouraged the leadership to improve on their designs. For the first time since 1832 the Conservatives won in the majority of English boroughs in November 1885.{{r|Blake85|pp=152–153}}

It was strengthened by the prominent part he played in the events immediately preceding the fall of the Liberal government in 1885; and when [[Hugh Childers]]'s budget resolutions were defeated by the Conservatives, aided by about half the Parnellites, Lord Randolph Churchill's admirers were justified in proclaiming him to have been the "organiser of victory".<ref name="EB1911"></ref>

===Secretary of State for India===
[[File:Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (1849–1895), Seated at His Desk.jpg|thumb|Oil on canvas painting of Lord Randolph Churchill by [[Edwin Arthur Ward]] (1886)]]
In Lord Salisbury's "caretaker" cabinet of 1885, Churchill was appointed [[Secretary of State for India]], assuming office on 24{{nbsp}}June 1885.<ref name="DIB">Buckland, Charles Edward. 1906. [[wikisource:Dictionary of Indian Biography/Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer|Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer]] ''Dictionary of Indian Biography''. Swan Sonnenschein & Co. London.</ref> As the price of entry he demanded that Sir Stafford Northcote be removed from the Commons, despite being the Conservative leader there. Salisbury was more than willing to concede this, and Northcote went to the Lords as the Earl of Iddlesleigh.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

Despite entering office with a reputation for progressive views on India, Churchill's tenure was, in the words of the historian and biographer [[R. F. Foster (historian)|R. F. Foster]], 'traditionally reactionary', and many of his policies focused on exploiting, not developing India.{{r|foster83|p=168}} He enthusiastically supported a trade policy which favoured British imports over Indian goods; increased spending on the Indian Army at the expense of public works such as railways, roads and irrigation (all sharply reduced under his secretaryship); and re-directed money which had been set aside for future famine relief to help balance his budget.{{r|foster83|pp=189–190, 193–194}} His attitude towards the native Indians was similarly illiberal. He refused to allow reforms which would have increased Indian representation within the civil service and army, and, in a public speech at Birmingham, he infamously described a deputation to Britain by three Indian politicians, led by [[N. G. Chandavarkar]], as the 'three Bengalee baboos'.{{r|foster83|pp=193, 204–205}}

However, Churchill's most well-known act during his time at the India Office was his role in the invasion and annexation of Burma in the [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]].<ref>[[Kwasi Kwarteng]], ''Ghosts of Empire: Britain's Legacies in the Modern World'', Bloomsbury, 2011, Part III.</ref> Siding with British commercial (especially cotton) and military interests, and hoping to boost Conservative fortunes in the upcoming general election, Churchill directed the [[Viceroy]], [[Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava|Lord Dufferin]], to invade [[Upper Burma]] in November 1885.{{r|foster83|pp=206–213}} With little discussion, Churchill then decided to annex the Burmese kingdom, adding it as a new province of the Indian [[British Raj|Raj]] as a "New Year present" for [[Queen Victoria]] on New Year's Day 1886. Not only is the war itself widely regarded as a piece of blatant [[imperialism]], but the continuing guerrilla war lasted into the later 1880s and cost the Indian taxpayer ten times Churchill's original financial estimates.{{r|foster83|p=209}}

In the autumn election of 1885 he contested [[Birmingham Central (UK Parliament constituency)|Birmingham Central]] against [[John Bright]], and though defeated here, was at the same time returned by a very large majority for [[Paddington South (UK Parliament constituency)|South Paddington]].<ref name="EB1911"></ref>

In the contest which arose over [[William Ewart Gladstone]]'s [[First Irish Home Rule Bill|Home Rule]] bill, Lord Randolph again bore a conspicuous part, and in the electioneering campaign his activity was only second to that of some of the [[Liberal Unionist Party|Liberal Unionists]], [[Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire|Lord Hartington]], [[George Joachim Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen|George Goschen]] and [[Joseph Chamberlain]]. He was now the recognised Conservative champion in the Lower Chamber, and when the second Salisbury administration was formed after the general election of 1886 he became [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] and [[Leader of the House of Commons]].<ref name="EB1911"></ref>

===Chancellor of the Exchequer===
[[File:Edward Linley Sambourne - Lord Randolph Churchill, 1881.png|thumb|upright|1881 [[Punch (magazine)|''Punch'']] cartoon by [[Edward Linley Sambourne]] of Lord Randolph Churchill, M.P., as a "midge with no sting in Parliament."]]

Churchill's last office was as Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Conservatives returned to office after the [[1886 United Kingdom general election|1886 election]].

However, he became a relatively isolated figure in the cabinet and did consult his supporters and building a base in Commons; instead, he decided to use public support to impose his positions on the Prime Minister in both domestic and foreign affairs.{{Clarify|date=March 2024}} He decided to demonstrate to the public that the Conservatives could be as economical in budgetary matters as Gladstone had been.{{citation needed|reason=Meaning of paragraph uncertain|date=March 2024}}

He proposed a budget with expenditure reductions that surprised and annoyed the Conservative MPs. They were willing to compromise, but he insisted on additional cuts in the Army and Navy that alarmed the service ministers.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Churchill decided to threaten resignation but it proved to be one of the great blunders in British political history. In his resignation letter he stated that it was because he was unable as Chancellor to support the armed services. He expected his resignation to be followed by the unconditional surrender of the cabinet, and his restoration to office on his own terms.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

To Churchill's surprise, Prime Minister Salisbury accepted the resignation,{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} and Churchill was out in the cold.{{clarify|date=April 2025}}

Goschen replaced him as Chancellor.<ref>Norman McCord and Bill Purdue, ''British History, 1815–1914'' (2nd ed. 2007) pp 410–411,.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Eric Alexander |title=Chief Whip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NP7lDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT88 |year=1961 |pages=86–89 |publisher=University of Toronto Press}}</ref> For the next few years there was some speculation about a return to front-line politics, but Churchill's own career was over.<ref name="EB1911-2">{{Cite book |last=Low |first=Sidney James Mark |title=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=1911 |volume=6 |page=347|chapter=Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer}}</ref> Even so, his economising ideas survived yet in the "Dartford Programme" of September 1886.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

===After the Chancellorship===
Lord Randolph continued to sit in Parliament, but his health was in serious decline throughout the 1890s. He was an ardent patron of [[horse racing]]; in 1889, his horse, [[L'Abbesse de Jouarre]], won [[Epsom Oaks|The Oaks]]. In 1891 he went to South Africa, in search both of health and relaxation. He travelled for some months through [[Cape Colony]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.matjiesfontein.com/About/index.htm |title=Matjiesfontein History – Matjiesfontein |website=matjiesfontein.com |access-date=24 July 2017}}</ref> the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]] and [[Rhodesia]], making notes on the politics and economics of the countries, shooting lions, and recording his impressions in letters to a London newspaper, which were afterwards republished under the title of ''Men, Mines and Animals in South Africa''. He attacked [[William Ewart Gladstone|Gladstone]]'s [[Second Irish Home Rule Bill|Second Home Rule Bill]] for Ireland with energy,<ref name="EB1911-2"></ref> and gave fiery pro-Union speeches in Ireland.<ref>Boyd. Andrew (1969), ''Holy War In Belfast'', Anvil Books Ltd, Tralee, pp. 122–123.</ref> Referring to the possibility of a Home Rule Bill, Churchill stated that: "...if Gladstone introduced a Home Rule Bill, I should not hesitate, if other circumstances were favourable, to agitate Ulster even to resistance beyond constitutional limits..."<ref>{{cite book |last=Bromage |first=Mary |author-link= |date=1964 |title=Churchill and Ireland |url= |location=Notre Dame, IN |publisher=University of Notre Dame Press |page=7 |isbn=}}</ref> During this time he coined the phrase "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right", echoing his earlier remark that in opposing Irish Home Rule "the Orange card would be the one to play".<ref>{{cite book |author=Paul Bew |title=Churchill and Ireland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UzrcCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT55 |year=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=55–56 |isbn=9780191071492}}</ref>

It was soon apparent that Churchill's powers had been undermined by the illness which was to take his life at the age of 45. As the session of 1893 wore on, his speeches lost their old effectiveness. His last speech in the House was delivered in the debate on the East African Scheme in June 1894, and was a painful failure.<ref name="EB1911-2"></ref>

==Death==
Lord Randolph is said to have contracted [[syphilis]] from a chambermaid at the family seat of Blenheim Palace shortly after his marriage in 1874.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Olsen |first=John David |date=30 December 2021 |title=What Killed Lord Randolph Churchill? |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour-extras/what-killed-lord-randolph-churchill/ |access-date=10 December 2024 |website=International Churchill Society |language=en-US}}</ref>

Randolph attempted a round-the-world journey in the autumn of 1894, accompanied by his wife, but his health soon became so feeble that he was brought back hurriedly from Cairo. He reached England shortly before Christmas, and died in [[Westminster]] the next month.<ref name="EB1911-2"></ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=cnS1ua%2FEVI2BXjrLIgIY7Q&scan=1 |title=Index entry |access-date=24 April 2018 |work=[[FreeBMD]] |publisher=ONS}}</ref> The gross value of his personal estate was entered in the Probate Registry at £75,971 ({{inflation|UK|75971|1895|fmt=eq|cursign=£|r=-5}}).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C01E5DF133DE433A25756C0A9659C94649ED7CF |title=Randolph Churchill's Will; Details of the Estate Bequeathed to His Wife and Children |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=5 March 1895 |page=5 |access-date=25 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090222031341/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C01E5DF133DE433A25756C0A9659C94649ED7CF |archive-date=22 February 2009}}</ref> He is buried near his wife and sons at [[St Martin's Church, Bladon]], near [[Woodstock, Oxfordshire]].

His widow, Lady Randolph Churchill, married [[George Cornwallis-West]] in 1900, when she became known as Mrs George Cornwallis-West. After that marriage was dissolved, she resumed by [[deed poll]] her prior married name, Lady Randolph Churchill. (Lord Randolph was her husband's courtesy title as the younger son of a duke and in English law does not qualify as a noble title in its own right). Lord Randolph's son, Sir [[Winston Churchill]], died on 24 January 1965, aged 90, exactly 70 years after the death of his father, having lived twice as long.

==Personality and reputation==
[[File:LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL 1849-1895 STATESMAN lived here 1883-1892.jpg|thumb|Marker at Lord Churchill's former home]]
Rosebery described his old friend and political opponent, after his death, thus: "his nervous system was always tense and highly strung; ...he seems to have had no knowledge of men, no consideration of their feelings, no give and take." But he continued, "in congenial society, his conversation was wholly delightful. He would then display his mastery of pleasant irony and banter; for with those playthings he was at his best."<ref>Gertrude Atherton, ''Review: Lord Randolph Churchill'', Reviewed Work: Lord Randolph Churchill by Lord Rosebery, The North American Review Vol. 184, No. 606 (4 January 1907), pp. 87–91, at p. 90. (5 pages) Published by: University of Northern Iowa {{JSTOR|25105753}}</ref>

Biographer [[Roy Jenkins]], pointing to his brash and slightly vulgar charisma, asked, "Was he ever near to being a serious statesman?":<ref name=jenkins99>{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Jenkins |title=The Chancellors |publisher=Macmillan |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-3337-3058-4}}</ref>{{rp|11–12}}

<blockquote>Undoubtedly, he had some high political talents. He had a gift for mordant, wounding, sometimes very funny phrases. And, having thought up the most outrageous attack he had the nerve to deliver it, without fear of offending taste or friends or damaging his own repute....He was strong on insolence. He also had other attributes necessary to make his words resound, and his fame increase: a mnemonic name, an idiosyncratic appearance, and good delivery, whether on the platform or in the House of Commons. In addition he had sporadic charm, although intermingled with offensive and often pointless rudeness.</blockquote>

Jenkins compares his youth to that of [[William Pitt the Younger]]: "Pitt was Prime Minister for 19 of his 46 years. Churchill had 11 months in office and was without rival in attracting so much attention and achieving so little".{{r|jenkins99|p=36}}

In his biography of Winston Churchill, Jenkins mentions the comment by Lord Salisbury that Randolph Churchill was "the antithesis of [[Muhammad Ahmad]]". Salisbury said: "The Mahdi pretends to be half mad, and is very sane in reality".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Roy |title=Churchill |publisher=Macmillan |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-3304-8805-1 |pages=11 |language=en}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|35em}}

==Further reading==<!--Please do not delete this list; it has already been deleted several times before. -->
* {{cite book |last=Beach |first=Lady Victoria |title=The Life of Sir Michael Hicks Beach |volume=2 vols |date=1932}}
* {{cite book |last1=Churchill |first1=Peregrine |last2=Mitchell |first2=Julian |author-link2=Julian Mitchell |title=Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill |url=https://archive.org/details/jennieladyrandol00chur |url-access=registration |date=1974|location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press }}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Randolph S. |author-link=Randolph Churchill |title=Winston S. Churchill |volume=Youth 1874–1900 |date=1968 }}
* {{cite book |last=Churchill |first=Winston |author-link=Winston Churchill |title=Lord Randolph Churchill |publisher=Odhams Press |date=1905}}
* {{cite book |last=Cornwallis-West |first=Mrs |title=The Reminiscences of Lady Randolph Churchill |date=1908}}
* {{cite book |last=Drummond-Wolff |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Drummond Wolff |title=Rambling Recollections |volume=2 vols |date=1908}}
* {{cite book |last=Jennings |first=Louis J. |title=Speeches of Lord Randolph Churchill 1880–88 |volume=2 vols |date= 1889}}
* {{cite book |last=Martin |first=Ralph G. |author-link=Ralph G. Martin |title=Lady Randolph Churchill |volume=2 vols |orig-year=1969 |date=1972}}
* {{cite book |last=Rosebery |first=Lord |author-link=Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery |title=Lord Randolph Churchill |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.23862 |date=1906}}
* {{cite book |last=Williams |first=Robin Harcourt |title=The Salisbury-Balfour Correspondence 1869–1892 |date=1899}}
* {{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Bernard |last2=Burke |first2=A.P. |date=1931 |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage, the Privy Council and Knightage |edition=89th |publisher=Burke's Peerage Ltd}}
* {{cite journal |last=Cokayne |first=G. E. |author-link=George Edward Cokayne |date=1892 |title=Marlborough |journal=[[The Complete Peerage of Great Britain and Ireland extant, abeyant and dormant]] |volume=4 |publisher=George Bell & Sons}}
* {{cite book |last=Cokayne |first=G. E. |date=1893 |title=The Complete Peerage |volume=5 |publisher=George Bell & Sons}}
* {{cite book |last=Cokayne |first=G. E. |date=1906 |title=The Complete Baronetage |volume=5 |publisher=George Bell & Sons}}
* James, Robert Rhodes. "Lord Randolph Churchill" ''History Today'' (Mar 1955) 5#3 pp 145–153, short biography.
* {{cite book |last=James |first=Robert Rhodes |author-link=Robert Rhodes James |title=Lord Randolph Churchill |orig-year=1959 |date=1986}}
* {{cite book |last=Leslie |first=Anita |author-link=Anita Leslie |title=Jennie: The Life of Lady Randolph Churchill |date=1969}}
* {{cite book |last=Leslie |first=Anita |title=Edwardians in Love |date=1972}}
* {{cite journal |last=Quinault |first=R. E. |title=The Fourth Party and Conservative Opposition to Bradlaugh 1880–1888 |journal=[[English Historical Review]] |volume=XCI |issue=CCCLIX |pages=315–340 |date=1 April 1976 |doi=10.1093/ehr/XCI.CCCLIX.315}}
* {{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Roberts (historian) |title=Salisbury |date=2009 }}
* {{cite book |last=Shannon |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Shannon (historian) |title=Gladstone: Heroic Minister 1865–1898 |date=1999 |pages=254–255, 263, 336, 366–372, 399, 429, 433, 444, 459, 563}}
* {{cite journal |last=Weston |first=Corinne C. |title=Disunity on the Opposition Front Bench, 1884 |journal=[[English Historical Review]] |volume=CVI |issue=CCCCXVIII |pages=551–563 |date=1 January 1991 |doi=10.1093/ehr/XCIX.CCCXCII.551}}

===Archives===
* [https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/2/resources/8465 Lord Randolph Churchill] (University Library, Cambridge)

==External links==
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=Lord Randolph Churchill |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lord-Randolph-Churchill-British-politician |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}
* [https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentwork/communicating/from-the-parliamentary-collections/collections-victorian-cartoonists/merry-hercules-infant-/ Our Infant Hercules – Westminster Victorian Cartoonists – UK Parliament Living Heritage]

{{Wikiquote}}
{{commons category|Lord Randolph Churchill}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | lord-randolph-churchill | Lord Randolph Churchill }}
* {{Find a Grave|20133}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* {{NPG name|name=Randolph Churchill}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Woodstock (UK Parliament constituency)|Woodstock]]
  | years  = 1874–1885
  | before = [[Henry Barnett (banker)|Henry Barnett]]
  | after  = [[Francis William Maclean]]
}}
{{s-new | constituency}}
{{s-ttl
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Paddington South (UK Parliament constituency)|Paddington South]]
  | years  = 1885–1895
}}
{{s-aft | after = [[George Fardell]] }}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before= [[Henry Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland|Earl Percy]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the [[National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations|National Union of<br /> Conservative and Constitutional Associations]] <br /><small>(jointly with [[Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn|Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt]])</small>|years=1884}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Lord Claud Hamilton (1843–1925)|Lord Claud Hamilton]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box|title=[[Secretary of State for India]]|before=[[John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley|The Earl of Kimberley]]|after=[[John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley|The Earl of Kimberley]]|years=1885–1886}}
{{succession box|title=[[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]|before=[[William Vernon Harcourt (politician)|Sir William Harcourt]]|after=[[George Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen|George Goschen]]|years=1886}}

{{s-bef| before = [[William Ewart Gladstone|William Gladstone]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[Leader of the House of Commons]]
       | years  = 1886 }}
{{s-aft| after  = [[William Henry Smith (1825–1891)|William Henry Smith]] }}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef| before = [[Michael Hicks-Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn|Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, Bt]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Leader of the Commons]]
       | years  = 1886 }}
{{s-aft| after  = [[William Henry Smith (1825–1891)|William Henry Smith]] }}
{{S-end}}

{{British Chancellors of the Exchequer}}
{{Leader of the House of Commons}}
{{First Salisbury Ministry}}
{{Conservative Party (UK)}}
{{Winston Churchill}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill, Randolph}}
[[Category:1849 births]]
[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:Leaders of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Burials at St Martin's Church, Bladon]]
[[Category:Spencer-Churchill family|Randolph Churchill]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Conservative Party (UK)]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Secretaries of state for India]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:People educated at Cheam School]]
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[[Category:Deaths from syphilis]]
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[[Category:Parents of prime ministers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Bullingdon Club members]]
[[Category:Family of Winston Churchill|Lord Randolph]]