The Prime Minister (novel)

This article is about a novel. For other uses, see Prime Minister (disambiguation).

The Prime Minister

Author	Anthony Trollope
Language	English
Series	Palliser
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Chapman & Hall
Publication date	November 1875 to June 1876 (serial in 8 parts); 4 Volumes, June 1876 (book)
Publication place	England
Media type	Print (Serial & Hardback)
Preceded by	Phineas Redux
Followed by	The Duke's Children

The Prime Minister is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published in 1876. It is the fifth of the "Palliser" series of novels.

Synopsis

When neither the Whigs nor the Tories are able to form a government on their own, a fragile compromise coalition government is formed, with Plantagenet Palliser, the wealthy and hard-working Duke of Omnium, installed as Prime Minister. The Duchess, formerly Lady Glencora Palliser, attempts to support her husband by hosting lavish parties at Gatherum Castle in Barsetshire, a family residence barely used until now. Palliser is initially unsure that he is fit to lead, then grows to enjoy the high office, and finally becomes increasingly distressed when his government proves to be too weak and divided to accomplish anything. His own inflexible nature does not help.

A significant sub-plot centres on Ferdinand Lopez, a financially overextended city adventurer of undisclosed parentage, who wins the favour of Emily Wharton. She marries Lopez despite her father's objections and soon has cause to regret her choice. Lopez meets the Duchess at one of her parties and Glencora unwisely encourages him to run for Parliament. He campaigns against a popular former suitor of Emily's, as well as a local tradesman, and withdraws from the contest when he sees he has no chance. He then insists that the Duke reimburse him for the election expenses, since the Duchess had led him to believe that he would have the Duke's endorsement.

The Duke is furious with Glencora, who has disobeyed his explicit order not to interfere in the election, but his strong sense of personal honour forces him to give in to Lopez's shameless and desperate demands. This causes a minor political scandal when it becomes known, for it appears to many people that Palliser has used his great influence and wealth to buy a seat in Parliament for a supporter. This causes the Duke great unhappiness, though he is spiritedly defended in the House of Commons by old colleague Phineas Finn, eponymous hero of Phineas Finn and Phineas Redux, two earlier books in the Palliser sequence.

Lopez's high-risk gambles lead to financial ruin and, after trying to persuade the comparatively wealthy Lizzie Eustace (protagonist of The Eustace Diamonds) to run away with him to Guatemala, a proposition she somewhat contemptuously rejects, he takes his own life by throwing himself in front of a train at Tenway Junction. After a period of mourning, Emily is persuaded to accept her former suitor, Arthur Fletcher.

Eventually the coalition government breaks apart and the Duke resigns, to both his regret and relief, and withdraws into private life, hoping to be of use to his party again one day.

External links

• The Prime Minister at Project Gutenberg