Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire

Short Biography

Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire KG GCVO PC PC (Ire) (23 July 1833 – 24 March 1908), styled Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1834 and 1858 and Marquess of Hartington between 1858 and 1891, was a British statesman. He has the distinction of having served as leader of three political parties (as Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons (1875–1880), as of the Liberal Unionist Party (1886–1903) and of the Unionists in the House of Lords (1902–1903), though the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists operated in close alliance from 1892–1903 and would eventually merge in 1912). He also declined to become Prime Minister on three occasions, not because he was not a serious politician but because the circumstances were never right.