agreed to resign in North Wiltshire, he was adopted by 'half a dozen country gentlemen'. At the 1880 general election, Long was elected to parliament as a Conservative for North Wiltshire, a seat he held until 1885. A supporter of Lord Beaconsfield, the British Empire, Church of England and state, he was against extending education, but favoured bible teachings in schools. He won the two-member North Wiltshire seat by more than 2000 votes. At the time Beaconsfield died on 19 April 1881, he was making a record of his days in the Commons: "I rose somewhere about 8.30 and as a new member was duly called". The Liberal government was in trouble over Egypt and the Bradlaugh incident; and the Conservatives were internally divided. He hunted for the Beaufort Hounds. I selected as my time, midnight until, if necessary, eight in the morning. I used to leave London at 5.30 in the morning, providing the House was up, take the train down to Chippenham, have my hunt, and get back to London by train leaving Chippenham about 7.30 … I was at the House at midnight and I would stay there till it rose. He made his first speech on 26 July 1880 during the third reading of the Compensation for Disturbances (Ireland) bill. Long won his seat with a reduced majority of 95 votes at the November 1885 general election. There was considerable anger at the Conservatives 'Fair Trade policy' for workers. He believed English people had little understanding of Ireland or the minority in Ireland that Home Rule would not protect, and that Gladstone's Home Rule policy would lead to the dismemberment of the empire. The home rule policy was defeated, Long was returned with an increased majority of 1726 votes in July 1886. Aged thirty-two, Long was asked to become a junior minister to C. T. Ritchie at the Local Government Board, in Salisbury's government. They had noticed his unswerving support from the backbenches. He was approachable and had a no-nonsense manner, an excellent memory: logical and crisp. He was both mature and responsible for a young MP. The very strong connections he had with the agricultural community assisted local government in his area. He entered government for the first time in 1886 in Lord Salisbury's second administration as Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board, serving under Charles Ritchie, and became one of the architects of