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AS History (Britain, 1830-1885: Representation and Reform) > Parliament, party and people 1832-67 > Flashcards

Parliament, party and people 1832-67 Flashcards

Key Questions -How far had the Tory/Conservative Party and Whig/Liberal Party developed distinctive and separate identities by the 1860s? -To what extent had politics inside and outside of parliament become organised along party lines?

1
Q

Timeline: 1832

A

Reform Act
-franchise enlargement and some seat redistribution

General election

  • Whigs/Liberals in control of Commons
  • Founding of Tory/Conservative Carlton Club London to encourage voter registration and dissemination of Tory propaganda
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2
Q

Timeline: 1834

A

Tamworth Manifesto

  • Sets out Peel’s vision for the future Conservative Party
  • Peel becomes Prime Minister in December
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3
Q

Timeline: 1835 (1)

A

General election
-Peel leads a Conservative minority administration

Lichfield House Compact
-Combination of Whig, Irish and radical MPs bring down Peel’s government

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4
Q

Timeline: 1835 (2)

A

Municipal Corporations Act

  • Borough corporations, the body of people responsible for running the boroughs, to be elected annually
  • Establishment of local political clubs and associations
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5
Q

Timeline: 1836

A 
Founding of Reform Club
-Formed by Whigs and middle-class radicals to encourage voter registration and dissemination of Whig/ Liberal propaganda
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6
Q

Timeline: 1837

A

Accession of Queen Victoria

-General election: combination of Whig and Irish MPs control the Commons

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7
Q

Timeline: 1839

A

Bedchamber Crisis (sensual)

  • Melbourne offers resignation of Whig ministry
  • Queen Victoria refuses to swap some of her Whig-leaning ladies of the bedchamber for Conservative-inlclined ones; Peel refuses to form a ministry and Melbourne’s Whigs carry on
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8
Q

Timeline: 1841

A

General election

-Peel and Conservatives have a Commons majority of about 80 seats

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9
Q

Timeline: 1846

A

Repeal of the Corn Laws

-Peel’s Conservative Party splits between Peelites, who favoured repeal, and the majority, who did not

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10
Q

Timeline: 1850

A

Death of Peel
-Peelites absorbed into the emerging Liberal Party under, first, Lord Aberdeen (himself a Peelite) and then Lord Palmerston

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11
Q

What made MPs switch between parties?

A
  • interest
  • inclination
  • persuasion

went like this throughout much of the 18th C

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12
Q

When did the matter of switching between parties “firm up”?

A

During the election of 1832 held after the passage of the reform act

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13
Q

Who was the election of 1832 really fought by?

A
  • not whig and tory

- but those who supported reform vs those who didn’t

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14
Q

Who supported reform?

A
  • supporters of ‘reform in order to preserve’ and the CofE and the monarchy
  • radicals who favoured free trade and the abolition of the monarchy and the disestablishment of the church
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15
Q

The supporters of reform were a mixed bunch. What did this lead to?

A
  • a difficulty body of MPs to keep together as a party and even as a government
  • splits over Irish affairs led to the resignation in 1834 of Earl Grey (Whig PM)
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16
Q

What happened at the same time as Earl Greys resignation?

A

Lord Althorp, Whig leader of the HofC inherited his fathers title and moved to HofL

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17
Q

What was the consequence of Earl Grey and Lord Althorp leaving the party?

A

Two important Whigs needed replacing

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18
Q

Which King tried to engineer a coalition between a Whig Lord ..?.. and the Tory ..?.. ?

A
  • William IV
  • Melbourne
  • Robert Peel
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19
Q

William IV tried to organise a coalition between who?

A
  • Melbourne

- Robert Peel

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20
Q

What happened when the suggested coalition failed?

A

King William IV didn’t like Melbourne’s choice of leader (Lord John Russell) in the Commons so dismissed the Whig government

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21
Q

Why was it odd for the King to dismiss the Whig government?

A

They had a secure majority

22
Q

Who was invited by the King to form a government after the Whigs had been dismissed?

A

Robert Peel

23
Q

What was Peel’s first move back in power? Why did he do it? What did he issue?

A
  • fight an election
  • didn’t have a majority
  • Tamworth election manifesto
24
Q

What did the Tamworth Manifest do?

A
  • appeal to electorate in borough of Tamworth

- set out Peel’s political position

25
Q

Why was the Tamworth Manifest shocking at the time?

A

Gentlemen may explain their political position to fellow MPs but not to the scummy, uneducated electorate beyond Westminster was “unheard of”

26
Q

Where was the Tamworth Manifest released?

A

Published in newspapers

27
Q

What was the result of the 1835 general election?

A
  • Conservatives did well
  • gained 80 seats
  • Peel left leading minority gov.
28
Q

What was the Lichfield House Compact? Who was it agreed by?

A
  • unwritten agreement at Lichfield House
  • in February 1835
  • between the Whigs, led by Lord John Russel, and a group of Irish MPs led by Daniel O’Connell
29
Q

What was agreed in the Lichfield House Compact?

A

The Whigs could depend on Irish support in Commons in return for promising to consider some reforming legislation in Ireland

30
Q

So who defeated Peel’s Whig government?

A

The Lichfield bois

31
Q

Why was this a watershed in British politics? (long answer soz; 5)

A
  • William IV well in constitutional rights to dismiss Melbourne but it would be the last time a monarch dismissed a ministry with majority support in HofC
  • Pre-1832 King’s minister who fought an election could be certain of returning to HofC with a majority; demonstrates the impact reform act had on power of monarch
  • lessening of royal influence = general elections + political parties assume greater importance
  • Tamworth Manifesto represented a new approach on the part of a leading politician with regards to elections, electorate and party
  • Tamworth manifesto was Peel’s vision for the new Conservative party
32
Q

Did the Lichield House Compact achieve its objective? What was it?

A
  • yes

- Whigs returned to gov.

33
Q

What happened after the Whigs returned to government (as a result of the Lichfield House Compact)?

A

Its nature (Lichfield House Compact) prevented them forming a party and tore them apart

34
Q

What did the death of William IV lead to? Who succeeded him?

A
  • a general election

- Victoria

35
Q

How many seats did the Conservatives win in the 1837 general election? Where did this leave Melbourne and Whigs?

A
  • 313

- reliant on Irish MPs for a majority

36
Q

What was the view of the electorate on the Whig parties reliance on Irish MPs?

A
  • electorate = mostly middle-class/ property-owning

- viewed this with suspicion

37
Q

What would the Whigs find it increasingly difficult to do? Why?

A
  • win seats in the counties

- conservatives increasingly seen as the English party

38
Q

How had the number of seats increased? (don’t know the date but probs pre-1832 to post-1832)

A

80 to 144

39
Q

Whigs strength lay where?

A

In the boroughs and newly enfranchise Midlands and North (also boroughs)

40
Q

On the surface what did the Bedchamber Crisis appear to be?

A

A petty squabble between the Queen and her potential PM, Robert Peel

41
Q

When did Melbourne offer his resignation? Why?

A
  • 1839

- narrow victory on the Government of Jamaica Bill

42
Q

After Melbourne offered his resignation what did Peel do?

A
  • offered to become PM
  • so asked the Queen to remove some ladies of her bedchamber who had Whig leanings
  • she refused
  • so he refused to form a government
43
Q

Why did Peel refuse to form a government?

A
  • calculated risk
  • Melbourne had to carry on
  • Peel thought he’d fuck up more
  • then when Conservative came it would be greater
44
Q

Was Peel’s calculated risk correct?

A

Yes

45
Q

When was the next general election (the most recent being 1837)?

A

1841

46
Q

Why were the last 2 years under Whig ministry troublesome?

A
  • severe economic depression = social discontent, mass poverty and pressure on poor law (demands for relief to be escalated)
  • Chartism revived
  • Anti-Corn Law League founded in Manchester 1838 pressed for abolition of Corn Laws
47
Q

Why did the Anti-Corn Law League press for the abolition of Corn Laws?

A
  • social relief - reduce price of bread

- economic relief - encourage free trade

48
Q

What finally brought matters to head (1841)?

A
  • financial crisis

- -declining revenues and a budget deficit of £6 million

49
Q

What did the financial crisis lead to?

A
  • conservative motion of ‘No confidence’ in the gov. won by a single vote
  • forced Whig gov. to resign
50
Q

Radicals were weary with the Whigs. Who did they turn to? What did the Whigs attempt to do to stop this? Did it work?

A
  • conservatives
  • ended sliding scale of duties on imported corn and replaced it with a fixed duty
  • no it did not impress
51
Q

What was the nail in the coffin on Melbourne’s chances of winning the general election?

A

Feargus O’Connor, banking on the Tory criticism of the new Poor Law, urged Chartist supporters to vote for Conservative candidates

52
Q

What was Peel and the Conservatives majority in the 1841 election?

A

80 seat majority

AS History (Britain, 1830-1885: Representation and Reform) (10 decks)

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