ABSTRACT
From his appointment as foreign secretary in 1830 until his death in 1865, Palmerston’s main political interest lay in foreign affairs. Unlike Canning, Palmerston was something of a ‘late developer’, holding only ‘hack’ jobs until his mid-forties, so he was lucky to be offered the foreign office in 1830. Palmerston’s energy and widespread popularity made him the obvious successor to the ineffective Lord Aberdeen as prime minister in February 1855 to provide more vigorous direction to the war against Russia. Palmerston came to be greatly admired by the press and public opinion, but foreign diplomats objected to his outspoken comments and abrasiveness, which earned him the title of ‘Lord Pumicestone’. Palmerston personified the self-confidence of the middle classes of mid-Victorian England. Ambivalence towards France and suspicion of Russia seem to characterise much of the Palmerstonian period.
