William Ewart Gladstone

About William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898) was a towering figure of 19th-century British politics, serving four times as Prime Minister and dominating the Liberal Party's agenda for decades. His historical importance stems from significant political and social reforms, including advocacy for Irish Home Rule, expanding suffrage, and his moralistic approach to governance, which secured him the #804 ranking in MIT's Historical Popularity Index.

In the digital age of 2025, Gladstone receives 412K annualized Wikipedia views, placing his Attention Gap at approximately 1x, suggesting his online visibility broadly matches his historical standing. This contrasts sharply with some of his political contemporaries in the comparison pool, such as Bashar al-Assad (#827 importance) who garners 3.0M views, or even Elagabalus (#921 importance) with 805K views. His historical influence is comparable to figures from the late Roman Empire or early American history, yet his online footprint is considerably smaller than more recently relevant political leaders.

Despite this relative balance, the data indicates a slight erosion of interest, with his pageviews experiencing a year-over-year decline of 13.5%. However, recent engagement shows some resilience, as evidenced by an 8% positive momentum shift between Q1 and Q3 of 2025.