"The unpopularity of their policies was the most important reason why the conservatives were out of office for most of the period 1846-1866"- Do you agree?

“The unpopularity of their policies was the most important reason why the conservatives were out of office for most of the period 1846-1866” – Do you agree?

The strong Conservative government of 1846 under the leadership of Peel in the Commons was destroyed as a result of the debate over the repeal of the Corn Laws. The results exposed weaknesses in the Party which were to ensure that, with brief exceptions of 1852 and 1859, it would not hold office again until 1866. But what were these weaknesses?

One reason for not being able to form a stable government was that the Conservatives failed to win over enough voters in this period. The party was associated with outdated and intransigent policies that were very unpopular. The public still remembered their opposition to the 1832 Great Reform Act and linked them to outdated protectionism. . The party was seen as traditional, one that would uphold landed interests, the church and the monarchy. This was not enough in the Britain of that time. The agrarian and industrial revolutions had changed the nature of the country; it had created a larger working class and a new group of entrepreneurs. Then of course, when the Conservative Party got the chance to form a cabinet in 1852, the British public did not trust their sudden change in policies. The ambitious Disraeli was keen to modernise the image of the Conservatives, “protection is not only dead but damned,” but he faced many difficulties. Social reform was not a popular issue but was still adopted by Disraeli. Therefore his efforts to awaken the Conservatives to a new age were regarded by many with suspicion. Moreover, since the Conservatives were in power for only two, very short lengths of time, they had very little opportunity to convince the electorate that their policies now combined contemporary ideals with traditional elements. It may be that even the Conservatives themselves were unconvinced. Since they could not win sufficient seats, they were unable to form a stable government capable of overcoming Liberal opposition.

The Conservative Party was not united in policy and was not prepared to stifle their opposition in the interests of unity as demonstrated by the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. The repeal of the Corn Laws seemed to be an essential Parliamentary action in 1846 to all but the Rump Tories. These protectionists Conservatives led by Bentink and Disraeli opposed the rest of their party (hereby named the Peelites). Peel believed that repeal was the only acceptable course to take, but he failed to get all of his party on his side, including Lord Derby, the Conservative ...

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Lord Derby proved this doubt in his party when he turned down the chance of forming a minority party in 1851, “These are not names I can put before the Queen.” “Most of the brain and much of the talent of the Conservative Party had sided with Peel, which lends substance to the appellation which the Radical, John Stuart Mill, used when he called the Conservatives the ‘Stupid Party’.” This was demonstrated when the Tories had the chance to form a minority government again. The Duke of Wellington enquired “Who, who?” when he heard many of the names of those serving on the cabinet and therefore naming Derby’s first ministry as the “Who, who ministry.” This brings to light that a contradictory reason for why the Conservative Party was out of office was because they lacked men of calibre. Men of talent in the

Tory party such as William Gladstone, Edward Cardwell and James Grey had all gone over to the Peelites so that the protectionist Tories largely consisted of backbench country gentlemen. One of the few men of talent in the Rump Tory party was Benjamin Disraeli, but many people disliked him. He was of suspect background, generally impoverished and failed to fit into the Conservative image. “His Jewish origins, unusual style, more radical past, racy lifestyle and transparent ambition were all seen to prejudice traditional Conservatives against him.” There was an intense rivalry between Gladstone and Disraeli, ultimately going back to the schism of 1846. Anti-Semitism was a big problem at the time and so Disraeli’s religious background was against him. In Derby’s “Who, who?” ministry, Derby obviously wanted to give Disraeli a superior role in the Cabinet. However, the top jobs of Home and Foreign Secretary involved a lot of meeting with the monarch. Again, Disraeli lost out because the Queen did not like him.

However one of the main reasons for why the Conservatives were out of office for the majority of the period 1846-66 was because they faced such strong opposition. These protectionist Conservatives lacked the parliamentary majority and therefore could not win any of the 1847, 1853, 1860 or 1865 elections. The first problem they faced was that the Tories could not make alliances with any other parties on the Commons. For the period 1846-1852 the Whig Party, under the leadership of Russell wasn’t doing very well, but the Peelites were a lot more popular with the public than the main rump of the Tory party. This still left the Tories with a chance of absorbing the Peelites back into the party. It was not until 1853 that the Whig-Peelite Coalition came into prominence. This made getting into office even harder for the Conservatives as although the Whig Party were relatively weak recruiting the Peelites had given them some much needed security. The Tories also tried on many occasions to recruit Gladstone back into the Tory party, but there was such intense rivalry between Disraeli and Gladstone that this never stood a chance. The second problem came with the Willis Tea Room meeting of 1859. This marked the beginning of new coalition party, the Liberals. This new party included the Whigs, the Radicals, the Irish MP’s and the Peelites, creating a strong party and leaving no one for the Tories to form an alliance with in Parliament.