The Shadow of Great Britain

381: Chapter 227 Harrison’s Unexpected Gift (4K8) 381: Chapter 227 Harrison’s Unexpected Gift (4K8) In the cafe, Arthur sized up the perfume merchant whom he had heard of many times but was only meeting for the second time.

However, his appearance and attire were quite different from what Arthur had expected.

Whether it was to avoid drawing attention or it was just his usual style, Bernie Harrison was clad in black and white from head to toe, a black tailcoat paired with a white shirt, and even his mane-like beard was topped with a high top hat.

Although his body exuded a faint scent of cologne, it wasn’t so strong as to be overwhelming.

If Arthur hadn’t met him before and known he was a wealthy perfume merchant, he might have mistaken him for a decently paid corporate employee or perhaps someone of even lower status.

After all, in those times, even an average citizen whose living standard had just reached the middle class would dress themselves in a reasonably decent manner.

Even some workers, to look respectable on their days off without affecting their standard of living, would choose to pawn their clothes on Monday and buy them back after getting their pay on the weekend, repeatedly using the pawnbroker as a sort of storage.

Bernie Harrison looked somewhat haggard, a far cry from the composed demeanor he had when Arthur arrested him.

Although Arthur didn’t know what Sir Peel and several leaders of the Tory Party had discussed with him, from his expression, it could be surmised that Representative Harrison’s political career had come to the edge of a cliff.

“Mr.

Harrison,” Arthur started with a joke, “I thought at this time you should be in the lower house, debating the Reform Bill with numerous lords.

What brings you to Whitehall today?

Or have you come across some new discovery in that murder case and plan to provide Scotland Yard with some strong leads?”

Upon hearing Arthur’s words, Harrison’s mood grew even heavier.

Although he didn’t know what evidence Scotland Yard had in hand, judging from the hints dropped by Sir Peel and the other Tory lords, he had clearly become a disposable piece for the Tory Party.

Previously, in order to retain a valuable seat in the House of Commons, Sir Peel and the others were willing to provide him with some protection without asking him to resign his seat.

But ever since the news broke a few days ago that Earl Charles Grey of the Whig Party planned to request His Majesty the King to dissolve Parliament and call for a general election to forcefully pass the “Parliament Reform Bill” in the lower house, his standing within the Tory Party plummeted dramatically.

Almost everyone believed his parliamentary seat would be replaced by a newcomer named Benjamin Disraeli, and against this, he was almost powerless.

The reason was simple: his election as a representative didn’t derive from his popularity but because the electoral district in which he won was a “pocket borough” controlled by the Tory Party.

Who would win in that district depended entirely on which candidate the Tory magnates fancied.

And now, it wasn’t just a matter of winning an election; even his nomination as a candidate in the party primaries was in jeopardy.

As the saying goes, plans can’t keep up with changes.

According to Harrison’s own calculations, the general election had just ended, and according to the “Seven Years Act” enacted in 1716, a parliamentary term could last up to seven years.

With only half a year gone since the last election, he had plenty of time to maneuver within the party.

But what Harrison never anticipated was how big a game Prime Minister Earl Grey was playing.

He thought that once the Whig Party came to power, the movement for parliamentary reform would subside.

But now it seemed that Earl Grey was bent on not giving up until he achieved his goal, with every Whig Party member who didn’t follow the vote being reprimanded by the party caucus.

When he realized this still couldn’t reverse the situation, he decided to flip the table, persuading His Majesty the King to call a new election so that the lower house reformers could hold an absolute majority.

What puzzled Harrison even more was that the King, who held an opposing stance to the reform, agreed to Earl Grey’s proposal after much deliberation.

This shift in the political landscape was naturally a heavy blow to the Tory Party, but for Bernie Harrison, it was fatal.

Now, having lost the support of his party, even if he wanted to run as an independent candidate in a different district, he would encounter other problems.

If he ran in a rotten borough, he had no means to compete financially with the two parties that were hotly contesting.

Moreover, rumors from within suggested both parties were keeping a tight watch on the rotten boroughs for this election.

As an old political operative, Harrison knew what that meant: to win in such a district, you needed not only substantial financial resources but also a powerful backing.

If an independent won in a rotten borough, they would definitely face an investigation of electoral corruption launched by the two parties in the lower house.

In short, it boils down to the notion that the two parties could engage in bribery, but you could not.

And if he chose to run in a municipal district with a relatively fair electoral environment and a higher number of voters, Harrison was well aware that he wouldn’t be popular in urban districts.

The reason was none other than his being a long-time representative in the House of Commons following Eldon, Earl and former Naval Minister Sir Crook.

His opponent could easily unearth a basketful of explosive comments Harrison had made in the past.