A republican in the early 1870s, he later became a leader in the radical challenge to Whig control of the Liberal Party, making a number of important contributions, including in the legislation increasing democracy in 1883–1885, his support of the growing labour and feminist movements, and his prolific writings on international affairs.

Touted as a future prime minister, his aspirations to higher political office were effectively terminated in 1885 after a notorious and well-publicised divorce case.

[3] His second wife was the author, art historian, feminist and trade unionist Emily Francis Pattison, née Strong (widow of Rev.

In 1871, Dilke caused controversy when he criticised the British monarchy and argued that the United Kingdom should adopt a republican form of government.

A leading and determined radical within the party, he negotiated the passage of the Third Reform Act, which the Conservatives allowed through the House of Lords in return for a redistribution that they calculated to be marginally favourable to themselves.

Dilke, aware of his vulnerability over the affair with Virginia's mother, refused to give evidence, largely on the advice of his confidant, Joseph Chamberlain.

[9] The paradoxical finding left doubts hanging over Dilke's respectability, and investigative journalist William Thomas Stead launched a public campaign against him.

Various lurid rumours circulated about his love life, including that he had invited a maidservant to join him and his lover in bed, and that he had introduced one or more of them to "every kind of French vice".

[11] Dilke spent much of the remainder of his life and much of his fortune trying to exonerate himself, which adds weight to the view that Virginia lied about the identity of her lover.

Over the years, it has been suggested that his political colleagues, including Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, and Chamberlain himself,[9] may have inspired her to accuse him, seeing him as an obstacle to their own ambitions.

Her description of their alleged love nest in Warren Street was full of inaccuracies and it has been speculated that she may have been attempting to distract attention from an earlier affair with one Captain Forster.

[11] In 1889, Dilke was approached by the Forest of Dean Liberal Association to stand as its parliamentary candidate, because his radical credentials suited the mining constituency seeking employment law reform.

In the drama the supposed affair Sir Charles has with Virginia, which brings about his political downfall, is an invention of hers to deflect her husband's suspicions away from her real lover.