Another serious problem facing the Whigs government before their defeat was the volatility of their support, both within the parliament and the electorate at large. The agricultural depression of 1830-1, which resulted in the Swing Riots and severe legislation to punish offenders, lost the Whigs a lot of support. They transported the Tolpuddle Martyrs, who had dared to start a Trade Union, to Australia, which lost them sympathy, especially from the working classes. Parliamentary majority of Melbourne’s government was extremely slender and were accused of being under the influence of the unpredictable Irish M.P.s. This angered many Englishmen within the party and Melbourne’s close relationship with Daniel O’Connell was watched and regarded suspiciously. This evidence shows that instability continued to haunt the Whig government and loss of sympathy added to their misfortune. They were now not aware of exactly who and how many people supported them, thus, their defeat was simply inevitable.
Their failure seemed near as the Whigs succeeded in provoking working class hostility in the late 1830s. This period saw the growth of Chartism and the repetition of the threats of violence which had occurred at the beginning of the decade. The situation was made worse by Britain sinking into an economic depression, which gave rise to unemployment and high prices of food. The British working population was angered by the obvious unfairness of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, which treated poverty as a crime and forced many people to work in the dreaded workhouses, sometimes known as “Poor Law Bastilles” for their harsh conditions. The frustration was also directed towards the government failure to create some sort of legislation for the working class and at the same time, the failure of the 1832 Reform Act to enfranchise them. Squalor in the cities and inadequate public health arrangements did add to the unhappiness of the working class. The 1833 Factory Act was another reason for working class hostility as the law only applied to textile factories. The “Ten-Hour Movement” was very disappointed as they had hoped to reduce a normal workday to ten hours and eliminate child labour. The Whigs further caused their own downfall by eliminating the pressure groups which had originally co-operated with the reforming legislation, especially the Evangelicals, Radicals and the Benthamites. This evidence demonstrates that ignoring the pleas from the working class gave the government a chance to not acknowledge the social inadequacies inherent in the system. However, their failure to do something for the British population portrays a reason why they did lose the elections in 1841.
This essay so far dealt with the issues that the Whigs were unable to deal with and the measures they did not take, which if they did they could have won the general elections in 1841. However, during this period somewhat of a revival of the Conservative Party had taken place under Sir Robert Peel and I feel that this was a major reason as to why the Whigs were defeated.
As the reforming impetus of the Whigs began to slow down, the Tories under the leadership of Sir Robert Peel were experiencing a major revival. As essential part of this was the deliberate movement of the Tories into the reforming ground previously a preserve of the Whigs. Thus, according to Llewellyn, it must have seemed by 1837 that ‘the Whigs were becoming less Radical and more “conservative” and that the Conservatives under Peel were becoming more “liberal”’. The evidence of this statement comes from “Tamworth Manifesto”, which was the basis for the changes that Peel made to the party in the 1830s. He came forward with new social and economic policies and aimed to “correct proven abuses and redress real grievances”. He appealed to the newly enfranchised middle class, who were happy and willing to give the “new” Tory Party’s programme a chance. This was further evidenced by a series of promising election results in Tory favour, which definitely confirmed that the public wished to see change and that they were willing to bring back the ‘once-ridiculed’ party, under Peel to demonstrate that they had indeed turned over a new leaf.
There were several reasons as to why the Whigs lost the elections in 1841. Be it, loss of reforming zeal, loss of stable support or an increase in working class unrest, all point in one direction – the population were tired of the Whigs. For years they had suppressed the public opinion but 1841 definitely showed a change in the way the British population dealt with mismanagement within the government. I feel that at this point in history, whether or not the Tory Party had redeemed themselves, Whigs would have definitely lost the elections as anything would have looked desirable compared to the Whigs. Thus, I do not feel that the sudden revival of the Tories had much to do with the Whig defeat but the Whigs were to blame themselves for their eventual decline. I agree with the quote and believe that they did lose the elections due to their own mistakes.