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52 Things You Never Knew About Bedford - Prime Ministers
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Everybody knows there is an area in Bedford called the Prime Minister's - but do you know about the son of Bedford who became Prime Minister?
Lord John Russell held the role twice in the 19th century, and was a younger son of the sixth Duke of Bedford.
In a parliamentary career which lasted more than 50 years, his career saw him develop from a firey young radical member of the Whig Party to an elder statesman of the newly-formed Liberal Party.
He was twice PM, for five years as a Whig from 1846, and then for eight months in 1865-6 as a Liberal. He also served as Foreign Secretary, Paymaster of the Forces, and leader of the House of Commons.
Lord John picked up the nickname 'finality Jack' in the 1830 when he was one of the main movers behind the Reform Act 1832, also known as the Great Reform Act, which increased the number of people who could vote from around 400,000 to 650,000. The monicker came about because he claimed at the time that it was a final settlement of the British constitution.
But he obviously changed his mind, because the last great battle of the his parliamentary career was to expand the voting franchise again. His 1866 Reform Bill did not make it through the Commons and he retired - but a year later the Tories under Benjamin Disreali passed their own reform act.
Lord John was not the only politically active member of the Russell family. His father, the 6th Duke of Bedford, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Ministry of All the Talents, which was formed in 1806 after the death of William Pitt the Younger.
And a number of the Russell clan were political rebels too, from William Russell who was executed for treason in 1683, to the 9th Duke who left the Liberal Party because of his opposition to Irish home rule.
And in more modern times, did you know that Bedford can also lay claim to former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown, 'Paddy' picked up his nickname because of his Irish accent when he joined Bedford School at the age of 11.
Have we missed out a famous political figure who came from Bedford?
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Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
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