ABSTRACT
J. A. Gorst, a clear-headed and vigorous administrator, aimed primarily at improving Conservative organisation in the large boroughs, which meant appealing directly to the working class. The central organisation of the parties in the 1860s was normally in the hands of the Whips, whose main task, apart from the parliamentary duties, was to raise money for the election fund and obtain candidates, functions they normally performed under the benevolent but aloof authority of the party leader. The other significant development in Conservative Party organisation during this period was the foundation of the National Union in 1867. In the Conservative Party, the end of Lord Randolph Churchill’s mesalliance with the National Union was followed by its reorganisation, on paper at least. In the later nineteenth century, the organisation of the Conservative Party was in fact run harmoniously by three men: Lord Salisbury, the Prime Minister, Akers-Douglas, the Chief Whip, and Captain Middleton.
