Background
Randolph was born on February 13, 1849, in Belgravia, London, United Kingdom; the third son of the seventh Duke of Marlborough.
Randolph was born on February 13, 1849, in Belgravia, London, United Kingdom; the third son of the seventh Duke of Marlborough.
Educated at Eton and Merton College, Oxford.
Lord Randolph's life had an almost fictional quality.
In 1880, when the second Liberal Ministry of Prime Minister William Gladstone took office, he was almost unknown.
Twice before he had successfully used the threat of quitting to get his way with Lord Salisbury.
His deal with Salisbury in 1884, abandoning the National Union in return for admittance into the collective leadership, ended Northcote's chances of the premiership.
When Churchill, frustrated over cutting the services estimates, offered a tactical resignation, Salisbury called his bluff and accepted.
Though he said he had ‘forgotten Goschen’ (who took the Exchequer), rather he had underestimated the desire of those who mattered to rid themselves of a disruptive presence.
He was the main exponent of the Tory Democratic movement.
After the Conservative defeat of 1880 he led a small ginger group known as the Fourth Party undermining the party leadership of Northcote.
In the second Salisbury Ministry, formed in August 1886, Churchill, at thirty-seven, became chancellor of the exchequer, leader of the House of Commons, and the second man in the party. His rapid rise, biting invective, and advanced views raised a host of enemies against Churchill within the Conservative Party.
He was a Conservative member of the House of Commons for Woodstock, 1874-1885, and for South Paddington, 1885-1895.
By nature rebellious, eccentric, and irresponsible, Churchill possessed the charm and failings of a spoiled child.
Randolph married to Jennie Jerome of New York in 1874.
