Sir William Robson, K.C. — 'The Solicitor General'

Spy renders Sir William Robson, Solicitor General under Campbell-Bannerman's Liberal government, as a lean, angular figure in a black frock coat and slate trousers, hands raised to fidget with his lapels — a pose suggesting the nervous energy of a courtroom advocate. The exaggerated head, pince-nez, and waxed moustache are classic Spy economy: legal sharpness distilled into silhouette. The caption, The Solicitor General, situates him within Liberal ascendancy at a moment when Robson was steering reformist legislation through the courts. The satire is entirely one of professional type — the ambitious barrister-politician caught mid-argument with himself.