Richard William Evelyn Middleton, 'The Conservative Party'

Leslie Ward ('Spy') presents Middleton—Conservative Party Chief Agent from 1885 to 1903 and the organizational brain behind multiple Tory election victories—as a prosperous, self-possessed Edwardian gentleman. He stands three-quarter length, ruddy-faced and barrel-chested in a dark frock coat and waistcoat with a gold watch-chain, grey trousers, and black tie, a cigarette held loosely at his side. The caption 'the Conservative Party' is a pointed joke: the party's machinery was so thoroughly Middleton's creation that the man and the institution had become synonymous. Ward's rendering is affectionate rather than savage—the slight exaggeration of the florid complexion and the stout silhouette signal comfortable Tory authority.