Hawarden Kite

The Hawarden Kite was a famous British scoop of 1885, an apparent instance of flying a kite, when Herbert Gladstone, son of the then Leader of the Opposition William E. Gladstone revealed to Edmund Rogers of the National Press Agency in London that his father now supported home rule for Ireland.

The expression refers to Hawarden Castle, which was Gladstone's home at the time.

Although there is some Historical debate surrounding the issue as some believe it was an intentional move by Gladstone, the consensus is that the Hawarden Kite incident was in fact a political disaster for William Gladstone. Gladstone had converted to Home Rule sometime during his second ministry of 1880-1886 however he knew that passing it through Parliament, particularly the House of Lords, would be very troublesome. Therefore, Gladstone had sought cross party agreement on the issue of home rule, thinking that the Conservatives should pass it as it would hence be easier to get through the House of Lords. Catholic Emancipation 1829, Repeal of the Corn Laws 1846, and the Reform Act 1867 were all cross-party acts passed by Conservative Governments. Gladstone had persuaded the Marquess of Salisbury however once news of Gladstone's conversion came to light following the Hawarden Kite, Liberals and Irish Nationalist MPs voted together to end Salisbury's caretaker administration. This led Salisbury to believe Gladstone was playing games with him and hence he turned his back on home rule.

This left Gladstone with a disunited Liberal party and his attempt at a Home Rule Bill failed. As 93 Liberals voted against their leader, Gladstone called a General Election which he subsequently lost. The Liberal party were now divided, the Gladstonian Liberals on one hand, and Liberal Unionists on the other.