It was led by William Ewart Gladstone of the Liberal Party upon his reappointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Queen Victoria.

The Liberal Party under the leadership of William Gladstone came to power in the United Kingdom in February 1886 after they, with the support of the Irish Nationalists, defeated the Conservative government of Lord Salisbury.

The influential Joseph Chamberlain was appointed President of the Local Government Board while future party leader and Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman was made Secretary of State for War.

The ministry is chiefly remembered for Gladstone's first attempt to introduce the Home Rule Bill for Ireland.

The Conservative Party, with the support of the Liberal Unionists, gained a decisive victory in the July 1886 general election, and Lord Salisbury once again became prime minister.