Peel resigned in 1846 following disputes between himself and the Conservative party over "favoured" agricultural interests.

The departure of the "Peelites" managed to spur on another factor, which helped to make the Conservative party less successful, and this problem was weak leadership. Although The conservative party came into power three times under Lord Derby (Derby- Dizzy administrations 1852-1968) their affluence can be called into question- on all three occasions the party held a minority position; this meant that the group had great difficulty in implementing political moves. Lord Derby himself was also an obstacle to this hurdle he was seen as a very limited leader, who didn't take his job seriously and lacked enthusiasm. His attitude can be seen in a speech made to his party about the Whigs, he simply states, "do not oppose them".

However the Conservative party did show some signs of prosperity in the form of Disraeli- who showed exceptional political skills and seemed very able to perform his duty he was appointed with some reluctance "we must of necessity choose the cleverest man we possess". This was due to his colourful behaviour and background. He was not of the usual background as many other politicians he had hardly any education and was also Jewish this was seen as a hindrance in regards to the gateway to parliament. Another idea as to why he was appointed with reluctance is that many of the Tory party members believed that he had used themselves and the policy of protection for his own personal gain- this was also proved when he did eventually renounce the Corn Laws.

The second Derby Dizzy 1858-59 administration also showed a little prosperity in the form of Parliamentary reform which helped boost party morale amongst the Tories. Although the policy was very vivid it lacked clear principles and also mimicked an original policy of the Liberals who were more in favour of reform. The General election, which took place after the introduction of this policy, showed that even though support had increased for the party they still held a minority, which showed that the Liberals had the overall power.

The conservative party however were not the only party who were suffering during the twenty years in question- the Liberal party were also facing problems although they were of considerably less severity to that of the Tories. During the years of the three Conservative administrations the Liberal party showed signs of weakness due to members of the party disagreeing amongst each other. Each time problems arose amongst the Liberals, the party became unsettled and their government fell the Tories would take control. This together shows that any overall success of the conservatives in parliament was due to the temporary weaknesses of the Whigs.

Although the Conservative party did come into power three times after the resignation of Sir Robert Peel it is fair to conclude that they were hit by weakness and were very unsuccessful throughout the twenty years in question. This was mainly due to the split over the Corn Laws this set up a direct link to the weak leadership of Lord derby who lacked commitment to the party. And even though they managed to form three governments they only succeeded after the Liberals fell into trouble and as soon as they managed to regain strength the conservative governments would fall.

Why were the conservative party unsuccessful during the twenty years following Peel's resignation?