The weakness if the Whig government from 1835-1841 was the most important reason for the Conservative victory of 1841
The Whigs electoral support began to drain away, between 1935-1841, which enabled the Tory party to win the 1841 elections with a majority of 70%. However, the weakness and the vulnerability of the Whig government was not the only reason for their downfall, but also due to the strength and organisation of the opposition; the Tory party.
One of the reasons for the Whig’s defeat in the 1841 election was due to instability of their support, both within the voters and within the parliament. The agricultural depression of 1830, which resulted in the Swing Riot and harsh legislation to punish the offenders, cost the Whigs a lot of support. The Tollpuddle Martyrs, who dared to start a trade union, were transported to Australia. The majority of Melbourne’s government was very small and were subject to accusations of being under the influence of erratic Irish MPs. this angered many Englishmen and as a result, O’Connell (Daniel) and Melbourne’s relationships were watched very closely. The Whigs were now unstable and a loss of sympathy was added to their long lists of problems.
They continued to upset the population by provoking working class hostility in the late 1830s. This saw a repetition of the violence that occurred in the beginning of the decade and Chartism was growing steadily. The economical depression didn’t \seem to help the situation in Britain any better. The economic depression increased unemployment and high food prices. The 1934 Poor Law Amendment Act was clearly unfair and this angered many of the British working population. The Poor Law Amendment Act treated poverty as a crime and forced people to work in workhouses and due to their poor conditions it was sometimes known as the “Poor Law Bastilles” (Bastille French prison). As a result there was a lot of hostility towards the government as there were no legislation for the working population, nor was there any adequate public health arrangements, or proper sewage systems. There was further unrest due to the 1833 factory Act, as it only applied to textile factories and no other. The working class had hoped to eliminate child labour and only have to work a 10-hour day.
