It has been observed, however, that "Mundella made enemies at every stage. He was far too confident and masterful for a quiet life, and in an age of overflowing political activity his mind and methods appeared to stand for the whole menace of radical change." As he grew older the Cabinet held him in high esteem but younger politicians were "never quite sure whether he was a rogue or a fool, but they were convinced that he was a bore" because of his obsessive harping on a few dominant themes. Their impatience with him ignored the attributes his contemporaries valued; as his biographer, Harry Armytage, observed: Mundella was "supple, diplomatic, humane".