[2] He is one of three federal permanent Liberal leaders never to become Prime Minister of Canada, the others being Stéphane Dion and the latter's immediate successor Michael Ignatieff.

[6] Blake was recruited into active politics by George Brown, elected Member of the Provincial Parliament (Durham West and Bruce South) became leader of the Ontario Liberal Party in 1868 and premier in 1871, but left provincial politics to run in the 1872 federal election, in which he was re-elected.

Blake resigned as Liberal leader in 1887, recruiting Wilfrid Laurier as his successor, and left the House of Commons of Canada in 1891.

In the 1892 election, Blake entered the British House of Commons as an Irish Nationalist Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of South Longford in the midlands of Ireland.

[7] Laurier sought several times for Blake's return to Canada by offering him nominations for the Supreme Court and other judicial appointments.

He left the British House of Commons in August 1907 upon his appointment as the Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds (a sinecure office used to effect resignation) and retired to Canada.

He is perhaps best remembered for the arguments that he made to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in favour of the Provinces in interpreting the British North America Act.

In 1888, he argued the case of St. Catharines Milling v. The Queen in which the federal government was claiming the right to issue timber licenses.

The personal and family papers of Edward Blake [10] can be found at the Archives of Ontario, and the majority of these records were received on indefinite loan from the University of Toronto Library in June 1952.