Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891). 1889 illustration of the Irish nationalist politician and land reform agitator Charles Stewart Parnell campaigning in Kilkenny, Ireland, during elections. Parnell was one of the most powerful figures in the British House of Commons during the 1880s. He became leader of the Home Rule League in 1880, which campaigned for home rule for Ireland within the UK. He won great influence through skilful use of parliamentary procedures and held the balance of power in the hung parliament of 1885, which led to Prime Minister William Gladstone adopting Home Rule as the central tenet of the Liberal Party.