 Both the Stamford MPs were easily eclipsed by the rising star of their colleague Benjamin Disraeli.A more significant historical figure was Lord Robert Cecil (Viscount Cranborne 1865-1868) who represented the borough between 1853 and 1868.As the Marquess of Salisbury he was the leading figure in the Conservative Party from the death of Disraeli in 1881 until he retired as Prime Minister in 1902.