Churchill, Randolph, Lord

Churchill, Randolph (Henry Spencer), Lord

(born Feb. 13, 1849, Blenheim Palace, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, Eng.—died Jan. 24, 1895, London) British politician. Third son of the 7th duke of Marlborough, he entered the House of Commons in 1874. In the early 1880s he joined other Conservatives in forming the Fourth Party, which advocated a “Tory democracy” of progressive conservatism. In 1886, at age 37, he became leader of the House of Commons and chancellor of the Exchequer, but he resigned after his first budget was rejected. Though he had seemed destined to be prime minister, this miscalculation effectively ended his political career. He remained in the Commons until his death, but he lost interest in politics and devoted much time to horse racing. Winston Churchill was his son.