The first full biographical study of Lord Derby - the first British statesman to become prime minister three times and the longest serving leader in the history of British party politics. A book that will seriously affect the way we think not only about Derby himself, but also about Victorian politics and society more generally. - ;Lord Derby was the first British statesman to become prime minister three times. He remains the longest serving party leader in modern British politics, heading the Conservative party for twenty-two years from 1846 to 1868. He abolished slavery in the British Empire