page_title: Obstructionism
section_title: Notable obstructionists
hierarchical_section_title: Obstructionism / In politics / Notable obstructionists
caption_attribution_description: Caricature of John O'Connor Power. Caption reads the brains of Obstruction.
context_page_description: Obstructionism is the practice of deliberately delaying or preventing a process or change, especially in politics.
context_section_description: John O'Connor Power, Joe Biggar, Frank Hugh O'Donnell, and Charles Stewart Parnell, Irish nationalists; all were famous for making long speeches in the British House of Commons. In a letter to Cardinal Cullen, 6 August 1877, The O'Donoghue, MP for County Kerry, denounced the obstruction policy: "It is Fenianism in a new form." The tactic deadlocked legislation and 'the autumn Session of 1882 was entirely devoted to the reform of the Rules of Procedure with a view to facilitating the despatch of business.' Sir Leslie Ward's "Spy" cartoon of John O'Connor Power appeared in Vanity Fair's "Men of the Day" series, 25 December 1886, and was captioned "the brains of Obstruction".
caption: John O'Connor Power "the brains of Obstruction" Caricature by "Spy" (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, 25 December 1886
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