Peel And the Conservative Party 1832-46

Question 1

When was the reform act passed?

Answer 1

1832

Question 2

When was the Carlton club founded?

Answer 2

1832

Question 3

When was the Tamworth manifesto published?

Answer 3

1834

Question 4

When was Peel Prime minister?

When was his first ministry? When was his second?

Answer 4

1834-46

1841

Question 5

When was the national anti-corn law league formed?

Answer 5

1839

Question 6

When was the ‘ladies of the bedchamber’ affair?

Answer 6

1839

Question 7

When was the income tax restored and free trade measures put in place?

Answer 7

1842

Question 8

When was the bank charter act passed?

Answer 8

1844

Question 9

When did the Irish famine start?

Answer 9

1845?

Question 10

When was the repeal of the corn laws passed by he HoC?

Answer 10

1846

Question 11

Did Peel oppose parliamentary reform?

Answer 11

Peel was not eager to be seen as supporting parliamentary reform but didn’t want to condemn it either. Supporting it would have put a barrier between him and Wellington and other ultra Tories. Not supporting it would have been going against considerable desire for change.

This policy prevented the Tories seeming old fashioned, narrow in base of support and against change.

Question 12

What issues did Pitt face in 1830 as the leader of he Tories?

Answer 12

His party was divided

The Tories were divided about parliamentary reform

The mood of the country was for change but the bulk of the Tories opposed change.

The reform proposals would have ended a lot of Tory control of rotten borough

The Tories did not do well in the 1832 general election and had fallen to 170 seats

Question 13

What did Peel do to cater to a larger electorate?

Answer 13

Set up the Carlton club in 1832 run by Sir Francis Bonham. This sent out info about MPs and candidates

Conservative Associations in the countries made sure conservative supporters were registered to vote under the new regulations of the reform act. Organised speakers and have voters information at elections

Peel made his policies clear to his own voters (Tamworth Manifesto 1834)

New concept of party organisation and manifesto, played a large role in electoral success in 1841.

Question 14

What did Conservative mean?

Answer 14

Someone who wanted to conserve the best elements of the country by making moderate reform.

Tory, old fashioned, simply oppose change

Question 15

What issues were there with Peel’s relationship with others in the party?

Answer 15

Wellington unhappy with the changes

Disraeli is a key enemy of Peel

Peel did not do much to gain the support of his cabinet

Peel’s measure to repeal the Corn laws was unpopular

Question 16

Who was Lord Melbourne?

Answer 16

Whig PM and follower of Charles James Fox

Served under Canning as a Tory as secretary for Ireland in 1827

Returned to the Whigs to be Home Secretary in 1830

Was PM April 1835 to August 1841

Queen Victoria liked him a lot, a lot more that severe and formal Peel

Question 17

How did Peel become PM in 1834?

Answer 17

William IV dismissed Lord Melbourne due to his desire to reform tithes. Whig ministers were resigning and the King felt it was not the PM’s place to intervene with the state church and that it was undermining his control of Ireland.

Great had resigned over a similar issue in 1834, when he found out some of his ministers were negotiating with the Irish leader O’Connell to relax the Coercion laws.

The king asked Peel to gourmet a government.

Question 18

Why didn’t Peel last as PM in 1834?

Answer 18

Although he had the kings support only a general election victory would give Peel the control of the HOC that he needed.

Although the Tamworth Manifesto helped the Conservatives win 100 more seats in 1835 than in 1832. The Whigs made a pact with the Irish MPs which meant a conservative majority was not possible and Peel resigned.

This election showed that royal support was not enough to secure a government anymore and support of the enlarged electorate was crucial

Question 19

What did Peel do as his time as PM in 1834-5?

Answer 19

An act to allow civil marriage, non-conformists could marry without using the Church of England service

Peel began an inquiry that led to the reform of tithes

Question 20

What was the Ladies of the Bedchamber affair?

Answer 20

In 1839, Melbourne resigned over lack of support for a bill to take over the running of Jamaica for five years.

Peel could have become PM again but declined when Queen Victoria refused to dismiss the ladies of her bedchamber.

These ladies advised the Queen

Peel particularly objected to the presence of Lady Normanby, the wife of a Whig colonial secretary and an enemy of Peel.

Question 21

Why did Peel win the general election of 1841?

Answer 21

After Melbourne resigned over a proposal to reduce corn and sugar duties there was a vacancy.

Peel had presented the conservatives as an independent party willing to go against the Queen’s wishes in 1839 and prepared to accept change.

The political agitation of the Chartists and Anti Corn Law league needed strong leadership to deal with it. Peel offered this.

The election bought a Conservative majority needed to have an effective PM

Question 22

Who was Benjamin Disraeli?

Answer 22

Tory MP

Enemy of Peel

PM in 1874

Introduced a reform bill in 1867

Witty

Tory radical, sympathetic to the poor. Argued that the upper classes should look after the people

Question 23

What were the economic problems in 1841?

Answer 23

Budget deficit of £1.8 billion, debt funding an issue

Economic downturn had hit trade, this in turn affected Government income as 80% came from customs and excise

The economics combined with poor harvests led to unrest such as Chartist

Economics led to middle class agitation shown by the pressure group the Anti-Corn Law league

Question 24

What was Peel’s economic strategy?

Answer 24

Introduce measures for freer trade to encourage prosperity, raise income and therefore bring in more taxes

Pay for the short term loss of income from taxes on trade by reintroducing Pitt’s idea of an income tax that had been abolished in 1816.

Ministry modernises banking

Eventually removes Corn laws

Conservatives start to be seen as representing the growing middle classes over the landowners and farmers who had traditionally supported them.

Question 25

What were Peel’s tax changes? What were their impact?

Answer 25

Income tax on incomes over £150, this did not affect most of the population introduce 1842

This would raise £3 million over 3 years and pay for reductions on duties of 759 articles including timber and coffee

This income tax didn’t fall on the poorest in society and lower duties boosted their spending power

His own party were less happy about the reduction in the sliding scale of the Corn Laws

Question 26

What was the Companies Act? When was it?

Answer 26

Helped make it easier and cheaper to form a business

1844

However limited liability didn’t come in until 1855 so any person who had put money in was liable for any debts

Question 27

What was the British economy like in 1844?

Answer 27

Economic upturn and better harvests and more prosperity due to a boom in railway building by private companies( helped by the Companies Act 1844)

1845 the deficit was now a surplus of £3.4 million and Peel’s decision to maintain the income tax meant that 430 items were free of duty.

This free duty of cotton although expensive for the country made the textiles industry very competitive

Sugar tax was reduced helping ordinary consumers

Auction duties were cute ending a tax on sales and reducing living costs

Peel’s key aim was to increase trade and he launched what he believed to be a fairer taxation system to pay for it

Question 28

What was the bank charter act?

Answer 28

1844

Prevented the circulation of excessive paper money

Ensured money kept its value as based upon gold

Cheques and bills of exchange developed allowed enough currency for business expansion

Question 29

Who was Richard Cobden?

Answer 29

Helped establish the Manchester anti-Corn law league

Became MP in 1841 and became a major spokesperson for the movement

Free trade ideas

Question 30

Who was John Bright?

Answer 30

As a Quaker he campaigned for more rights for non-conformists, temperance and free trade.

Worked with Cobden against the Corn laws

Became an MP in 1843

Question 31

When was the railway boom? How many miles of track had been laid by 1852?

Answer 31

Boom 1844-46

By 1852 3,000 miles of track had been laid

Rapid expansion as the first railway only opened in 1825

Question 32

What was the railway regulation Act? When was it?

Answer 32

1844

Introduced by William Gladstone

Gave parliament power to limit rail profits, purchase railways for the state and inspect the accounts of rail companies

Required rail companies to provide cheap travel to benefit the working class. Not more than one penny per mile

Question 33

How did Peel deal with the need of a new type of economy in which industry had a far greater role?

Answer 33

Reducing manufacturing costs

Encouraging British exports

Soundly based money meant business confidence

Reducing indirect taxes so that ordinary people had more to spend on goods

Balances the government books like a prudent financier

Peel prepared to offer government intervention when necessary (railways and some labour in mines and factories) although Peel recognised the shift away from agriculture to industry economically he didn’t deal with many of the social problems

Question 34

How effective was Peel as PM?

Answer 34

Despite criticisms from Disraeli. The cabinet didn’t oppose him in 1846 despite his over bearing leadership

Aware of changing nature of Britain and of the need to adapt policy to a more urban and industrial economy

Election of 1841 showed the success of his policy of appealing to a wider electorate

Didn’t maintain the support of his own party enough. He was stuck in the old political systems and found it (unsurprisingly) difficult to adapt

Question 35

When was the anti-Corn law league established? What was he league

Answer 35

1839

A national group for diffierent groups protesting about the Corn laws. Pressure group focused on one issue

Leadership located in Manchester, greatest support from middle classes in urban areas in the North.

Cobden and Bright were the two dominant personalities

Devoted to free trade and resented the country being run by landowners and aristocrats, the corn laws symbolised this dominance

Approached politics as a moral campaign

Question 36

When were the Corn laws introduced? When were they amended to a sliding scale?

Answer 36

1815

1828

Question 37

Which Whig MP made annual attempts to abolish the laws 1837 to 1845?

Answer 37

Charles Villiers

Question 38

When was there a parliamentary report on the Corn laws? What was the reaction of Peel?

Answer 38

1840

In 1842 he reduced the duty

Question 39

What did he anti-Corn law league argue?

Answer 39

Corn laws went against he ideals of free trade

Workers needed cheap bread to improve living standards

High bread prices led to depression, this harmed workers, manufacturers and the cities of the north

By stopping other countries selling Britain wheat, these countries had no incentive or money to buy British goods

Corn laws benefitted only the landlords and aristocrats and were a symbol of their power.

In times of hardship (Irish famine 1845-46) the Corn Laws brought misery and death by starvation as the prevented the import of cheap corn

Question 40

What were the arguments against the anti-Corn law league?

Answer 40

The Corn law of 1815 had been amended in 1828 and 1841z they were not considered untouchable by governments

Premise was flawed, bad years affected all European yields so there was not lots of foreign corn to import anyway

Corn from far away was very expensive to import. After repeal the price was hardly affected

Lower bread prices could have been used by employers to cut wages

Many reforms passed after 1832 had not been in the interests of aristocracy and land owners

Question 41

What did the league do?

Answer 41

Raised money from middle class supporters

Maintained a constant pressure for repeal

Specific aims, got sympathetic MPs elected.

Passion and emotional appeal

When working class discontent broke out in 1842 the league drew back, didn’t let protest go too far.

Shared Characteristics with the BPU but issue was less radically political

Question 42

How successful were the anti-corn law league?

Answer 42

Seemed successful, Corn laws repealed 1846

However,

Made no appeal to the politically powerful landed classes

Working classes suspicious of the middle class pressure group, Cobden’s reluctance to link middle and working class pressure important here

Opponents associated Corn law repeal with a low-wage economy offering little to the working man

Anti-league was an effective group and picked holes in the League

Without Peel’s enthusiasm for repeal the league was unlikely to have got what they wanted as they had no desire for politically revolutionary activity

Question 43

What tactics did the Anti-Corn law league have?

Answer 43

Getting sympathetic MPs elected

• made sure supporters were registered to vote
• used funds to finance campaigns
• spent £250 million on property in the counties to make inroads in county seats

However party loyalties were proving too strong to allow the league to be a new political party

Large meetings at the Free Trade Hall in central Manchester, could hold 7000 people. Substantial support from non-conformists

A movement not just a party
- Anti-Corn law circular was free to those subscribing a pound or more. Used the penny post to send out leaflets

Question 44

Why did Peel repeal the Corn Laws?

Answer 44

Pressure from the league

• Peel convinced by Cobden
• Peel supports free trade, corn laws illogical, felt he should act in what he considered right

Irish potato famine
-worry that law would break down in Ireland

Parliamentary pressure

• Whigs favour reform
• support of his Cabinet
• Whig and Wellington support means it could be passed in the lords
• Cheap bread is a popular cause

The Corn laws had come into effect rarely, in 1842 parliamentary enquiries recommended reducing the duty

Question 45

Who were Peel’s biggest Critics?

Answer 45

Lord Derby (from a conservative great family, respected man of great social standing)

Benjamin Disraeli (brilliant at mocking and witty)

Question 46

Why did Peel fall?

Answer 46

Defeated by his own backbenchers. They voted against a Irish Coercion Bill to increase political powers in Ireland. Peel lost the confidence of his own party so resigned in 1846. They voted this way over the resentment at the repeal of the Corn laws

Question 47

Why did people dislike Peel?

Answer 47

Couldn’t communicate effectively with party- bad leadership

Peel promoting the interests of the urban people above those of the land. Rural Britain felt sidelined.

Peel’s economic, social and financial policies had not won the hearts of Conservative MPs even though they felt it was necessary

Criticised for lack of support for CofE. (Maynooth issue in Ireland, provocative gesture)

Resentment of Peel acknowledging the league, seem as ‘jumped up do-golfers’

Question 48

When was the Corn law repeal passed?

Answer 48

1846

Question 49

Did Lord John Russel support repeal?

Answer 49

Yes

However he would rather Peel do it as would be equally controversial as a Whig measure as large landowners supported he party.

Question 50

How did Peel deal with the Irish Famine?

Answer 50

50% of the crop failed

Indian corn imported from the USA, hard to grind and poor quality

Had there been no Corn laws the issue would have been more easily solved

Question 51

Why did Peel support reform after 1832 as well as before but not have it as an issue he passed?

Answer 51

Didn’t want to seem narrow in base of support or old fashioned but needed to stop Tories splitting even further

Question 52

When was the Companies act?

Answer 52

1844

Question 53

How many items had reduced duties under Peel?

Answer 53

750 items

Question 54

Why did Peel resign the first time over Corn law repeal?

Answer 54

His desire for repeal leakers to the Times in December 1845

Whigs too divided to take office so Peel continues