Richard Cross

Richard Cross.

Richard Cross was the Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1885 to the 1890s. Cross was able to harness the reformist wave of the Bloody Eighties and lead the Whig Party to victory over Geoffrey Cadogan's Tory Party. The following year, the Whigs were able to gain passage of the Great Reform Bill of 1886. The Great Reform Bill expanded the franchise, redistricted seats in the House of Commons, established social insurance, and began the process of redistributing equity in large corporations. The bankers J.P. Morgan and Shawcross Finlay opposed the Bill's provision to nationalize Britain's banks, but were only able to delay it by seven years.