Robert Peel In 1830 the Whigs finally returned to power and Peel became a member of the Opposition for the first time. After successive election defeats, leadership of the Conservative Party gradually passed from Wellington to Peel, and when King William IV asked Wellington to become Prime Minister in November 1834, he declined and Peel was selected instead, with Wellington serving as caretaker until Peel took office. Peel then issued the Tamworth Manifesto (December 1834), laying down the principles upon which the modern British Conservative Party is based. His first ministry was a minority government, dependent on Whig support and with Peel
Second Peel ministry Second Peel ministry The second Peel ministry was formed by Sir Robert Peel in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1841. Peel came to power for a second time after the Conservative victory in the General Election caused the Whig government of Lord Melbourne to resign. Henry Goulburn was Chancellor of the Exchequer, the future Prime Minister Lord Aberdeen Foreign Secretary and Sir James Graham Home Secretary. William Ewart Gladstone, who was yet to join the Liberal Party, became a member of the cabinet for the first time in 1843 when he was appointed President of the