Secondly was that the leadership of peel was very important. Peel was an intellect, had experience and had national influence that stood from head and shoulders above any other party member. N. Gash states that Peel was the “outstanding parliamentarian at his age”, that he provided “unrivalled leadership” and a “non-partisan intellect”, together with skills in politics which gave conservatism a ‘cohesion and purpose, which no party ever had before. This means that Peel had the experience and the knowledge to lead the conservative party to victory.
He also organised meetings of party members at West Minister and at his country home at Drayton Manor. This was very important because Peel wanted to plan ahead and knot the party is united in fulfilling its dream.
Another thing that Peel gained credit for was or his release of the Tamworth Manifesto. This was a symbol of the new approach to the Conservative party. The function of the Manifesto was to display the progressive credentials of the conservative party and it was an engineering document, which was aimed to appeal to the electorates at large. The Tamworth Manifesto projected a much more modern and positive image of the conservative party. According to Greville, it was a ‘prodigious sensation…’The Tamworth Manifesto of special significance because it came from Peel’s position as Prime Minister and it gave special significance as the fundamental statement of the doctrines of the Peelite Conservatism. So the Tamworth Manifesto was very important because it laid out the foundations of the Conservative party and gave the Conservative party a good image.
During the 1830s, Peel built up the Conservative party strength by gaining support from moderates of various classes, especially middle class manufacturers and businessmen, which were neglected by the Whigs. Even though the Conservative party were a minority, the support for them was growing from 1832 to 1841. The number of seats that they gained in the large boroughs can represent this. In English boroughs over 2,000, the number of seats doubled from 8 to 15 from 1832 to 1841. In English counties, seats increased from 42 to 124 from 1832 to 1841. The seats in the English counties increased more than the seats in the larger boroughs because there were traditional Tory members were as in the larger boroughs, the middle class people were being convinced. This can be credited for Peel for aiming at the middles class people as well as landowners and can be linked also to Whig mistakes, which will be explained later. The development of the Charles Street Gang, Carlton Club and the work done by F. R. Bonham were also very important in the development and success of the Conservative party.
One of the reasons for the electoral success of the Conservatives was that they were quicker off the mark than the Whigs in strengthening their party organisation following the passing of the 1832 Reform Act. In 1831 Joseph Planta, William Holmes, J.C. Herries, Lord Ellenborough, Charles Arbuthnot and Sir Henry Hardinge set up an ad hoc committee at the home of Joseph Planta in Charles Street to provide a central party organisation and to supervise Conservative electoral arrangements. It was set up independently of Peel. The aim of the Committee was to defeat reform proposals, which had been put before parliament by the Whigs.
By 1832, the Conservatives set up the Carlton Club as Conservative headquarters to deal with electoral matters due to the increase in the number of party members. Francis Bonham emerged as the Conservatives' chief electoral expert. By the end of March 1832, 500 Conservatives had agreed to join. This was very important for Peel because he wanted his party to grow and gain support from all over the country, in which he succeeded in by setting up the Charles Street Gang and the Carlton Club.
As well as credit to Peel for leading the conservative party to victory in 1841, mistakes by the Whigs can also be taken into account for the conservative victory in 1841.
The resignation of Graham and Stanley from the Whigs was the biggest blow for them. Stanley, also known as the Rupert of debates and Graham, an excellent administrator, resigned from the Whig party over the Irish reform Bill in 1832. Graham and Stanley, along with 50 other Whig party members went on to form a committee called the Derby Dilly, though they eventually joined the Conservative party. Because of this, the Whigs began to lose seats in the large boroughs and cracks in the Whig party started to form and split the Whigs.
So Most of the credit for the Conservative victory will be down to Peel, his experience and enthusiasm but he mistake that the Whigs made, which h resulted in the resignation of Graham and Stanley was the starting point of which the Whigs began to crack. Peel took advantage of this mistake, even though the Whigs were still a majority. The Conservative Party kept on strengthening more and more year by year until in 1841, which they won the elections and became the majority.
