"The Weakness of the Whigs from 1835 to 1841 was the most important reason for the Conservative victory of 1841." How accurate is this assessment?
“The Weakness of the Whigs from 1835 to 1841 was the most important reason for the Conservative victory of 1841.” How accurate is this assessment?
During the period 1835 to 41, it is clear that the Whigs suffered from inherent weaknesses within the party. They had dwindling electoral support throughout the period and this contributed to the conservative victory of 1841. However, other factors played a more significant part-Peel’s leadership of the party and its reorganised structure enabled the Conservatives to exploit these weaknesses and thereby win the 1841 election.
The Whigs suffered throughout the period from serious weaknesses within the party. After the Lichfield House Compact in 1835, the Whig party was ‘pushed around’ considerably by the Irish and Radical MPs, who arguably were the ones who instigated many of the Whigs’ reformist policies. The credit for the Municipal Reform in 1835 and other major pieces of legislation throughout the period can be considered to be with the Benthamites and Paternalist Tories rather than Lord Melbourne’s administration. The presence of Irish MPs considerably hindered the Whigs and they allowed themselves to become preoccupied with Irish legislation, much of it unfinished, in the later part of the decade. The Bedchamber Crisis of 1839 further discredited the Whigs as they were seen to cling to office in their weak position. The Election of 1837 showed a considerable drop in Whig support reducing their parliamentary majority from 100 to just 30, suggesting that the party had lost touch with its middle class and especially dissenting supporters; leading Whigs still did not support the disestablishment of the Church of England and despite some feeble attempts, no abolition of Church rates was ever passed. The Whig party were also heavily criticised for their inability to run economic and administrative issues in Britain; the disastrous state of the economy, in a deeper and longer depression then had previously been seen, was making its presence felt across the country. This, combined with a lack of evidence of any kind of retrenchment, and a series of budget deficits from 1837 until the Whigs were removed following the vote of no confidence in June 1841, spelt the end for Melbourne’s weak administration.
