| |
| | Stroud Political History - John Russell (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26) |
 | | Lord John’s ministerial record is impressive and his commitment to reform – social and constitutional – is almost impossible to emulate, yet, curiously, he remains something of an enigma and, to some extent, over shadowed by Peel, Palmerston, Disraeli and Gladstone. |
 | | Physically, Russell was only 5 feet 4 ¾ inches, suffered from bouts of ill health and had a ‘rickety’ voice; but he prevailed, in those days of shifting political alliances and loose party structures, through his sheer force of character and intelligence. |
 | | Russell’s own first government, formed not long after his spell as MP for Stroud, introduced several important measures including the Education Act to increase teachers’ pay and the Factory Act to improve working conditions. |
| www.stroudconservatives.co.uk /stroud-political-history.htm (785 words) |
|