Joseph Chamberlain

The visit to the USA renewed his enthusiasm for politics and enhanced his standing with respect to Gladstone. Gladstone himself observed that "There is a difference between Hartington and Chamberlain that the first behaves like and is a thorough gentleman. West Africa
Chamberlain believed that West Africa had great economic potential and shared Salisbury's suspicions of the French who were Britain's principal rival in the region.

At the time Chamberlain was notable for his attacks on the Conservative leader Lord Salisbury and in the 1885 general election he proposed the "Unauthorised Programme" of benefits for newly enfranchised agricultural labourers. He entered the House of Commons aged almost forty relatively late in life for a front-rank politician. Chamberlain accepted the post of Secretary of State for the Colonies declining other positions.