Palmerston, politics and propaganda (1830-1865)

David Brown

Lord Palmerston (foreign secretary 1830-41, 1846-51, home secretary, 1852-55 and prime minister, 1855-58, 1859-65) was one of the longest-serving and most significant politicians of the nineteenth century. His legacy remains a contested one, however, not the least interesting part of which is his attitude to the relationship between government and the people. Traditionally viewed as a reactionary figure, keen to hold back the tide of ‘progress’ and contemptuous of the masses he was, nonetheless, the first modern British politician actively to seek out support from the ‘people’.

Palmerston engineered a perception of himself as ‘the People’s Minister’ in order to underwrite a frequently precarious parliamentary position. Using techniques now familiar to propagandists but relatively novel at the time, Palmerston actively exploited newspapers and undertook carefully managed public speaking engagements in order to appeal to, and very often to win over (or at least appear to win over), large sections of the public. He also worked to make sure that the image of the popular minister was the one that was played back to parliamentary colleagues and opponents.

This paper is concerned with the dynamics of Victorian political propaganda on a number of levels. It considers the reasons why, and the means by which, a nineteenth century politician sought to influence an essentially pre-democratic society, and also to what ends that propaganda was employed. In buttressing his personal position, Palmerston was also cultivating a very particular sense of Britishness, liberalism and ‘progress’. In flattering popular feeling, however, this form of propaganda also, ultimately, undermined part of its own intended purpose of containing demands for constitutional reform and better popular representation by demonstrating the strength, vitality and value of public opinion.