“ The political career of the 2nd Lord Liverpool was of a negative character so far as legislation was concerned; but he held office in years of great danger and depression, during which he “kept order among his colleagues, composed their quarrels, and oiled the wheels to make it possible for the machinery of government to work” (Spencer Walpole) . The energy of Castlereagh and Canning secured the success of the foreign policy of his cabinet, but in his home policy he was always retrograde. ”

“ On the accession of Pitt to power in 1804, he obtained the home office, having in the previous year been elevated as Baron Hawkesbury to the House of Lords, where he acted as leader of the government. He declined the premiership on the death of Pitt in 1806, and remained out of office until Portland became prime minister in 1807, when he again became secretary of state for home affairs. In 1808 he succeeded his father as earl of Liverpool. In the ministry of Spencer Perceval (1809–1812) he was secretary for war and the colonies. ”

“ In 1763 George Grenville appointed him joint secretary to the treasury; in 1766, after a short retirement, he became a lord of the admiralty and then a lord of the treasury in the Grafton administration; and from 1778 until the close of Lord North’s ministry in 1782 he was secretary-at-war. From 1786 to 1801 he was president of the board of trade and chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, and he was popularly regarded as enjoying the confidence of the king to a special degree. ”