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Under Gladstone, he became Lord Chancellor in [[1872] and was created Baron Selborne. His first tenure in the office saw the passage of the Judicature Act of 1873, which completely reorganized the judiciary. He served in the same office in Gladstone's Second Cabinet (1880-1885), and was created Earl of Selborne and Viscount Wolmer in 1882. He broke with Gladstone, however, over Irish Home Rule, in 1885, and joined the Liberal Unionists.
His son, William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne, later became a prominent Unionist politician.
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|width="30%" align="center"|Preceded by:
Lord Hatherley
|width="40%" align="center"|Lord Chancellor
1872-1874
|width="30%" align="center"|Followed by:
Lord Cairns
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|width="30%" align="center"|Preceded by:
Lord Cairns
|width="40%" align="center"|1880-1885
|width="30%" align="center"|Followed by:
Lord Halsbury
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|width="30%" align="center"|Preceded by:
New Creation
|width="40%" align="center"|Earl of Selborne
|width="30%" align="center"|Followed by:
William Palmer
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