James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury James Brownlow William Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury, (17 April 1791 – 12 April 1868), styled Viscount Cranborne until 1823, was a British Conservative politician. He held office under the Earl of Derby as Lord Privy Seal in 1852 and Lord President of the Council between 1858 and 1859. He was the father of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and grandfather of Arthur Balfour, who also served as Prime Minister. Salisbury was the son of James Cecil, 1st Marquess of Salisbury, and Lady Emily Mary
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom they were unable to prevent the passage of more comprehensive electoral reforms in 1867, 1884, 1918 and 1928 when universal equal suffrage was established. Ultimately, this erosion of power led to the Parliament Act of 1911, which marginalised the Lords' role in the legislative process and gave further weight to the convention that had developed over the previous century that a Prime Minister cannot sit in the House of Lords. The last to do so was Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, from 1895 to 1902. Throughout the 19th century, governments led from the Lords had often suffered difficulties governing