William Hood Walrond, 'Whip'

Signed by Lib (Liborio Prosperi, one of Vanity Fair's secondary caricaturists), this chromolithograph — plate 493 in the Statesmen series — depicts Lt-Col William Hood Walrond MP in strict profile, arms folded across a dark frock coat, grey trousers, and black shoes. The caption 'Whip' identifies his parliamentary role: a party whip responsible for enforcing Commons discipline and managing votes. Prosperi's treatment is relatively temperate — the figure is elongated and slightly top-heavy, the blond head exaggerated in its receding angularity, but the overall effect is dry dignity rather than mockery. The image captures the cool authority the Whip's office demanded in Victorian political culture.