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
Mount Peel had named the forest after Sir Robert Peel, the British Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who had died in 1850, the year that Canterbury was founded. The mountain and the nearby community of Peel Forest also took Peel's name. Mt Peel and the surrounding Peel Forest contain many well maintained and popular walking tracks. There is also a small, less well maintained track, heading from Little Mt Peel to Middle Mt Peel and then to Mt Peel. There are several different tracks catering to different climbing abilities, ranging from short 30 minute walks, to full day/overnight tramps. Just below