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
Statue of Robert Peel, Parliament Square Statue of Robert Peel, Parliament Square The statue of Robert Peel in Parliament Square, London, is a bronze sculpture of Sir Robert Peel, a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was sculpted by Matthew Noble and was one of the first three statues to be placed in the square. The statue of Sir Robert Peel by sculptor Matthew Noble stands in Parliament Square facing Great George Street in the south-west corner of the square. It is a bronze statue on a granite plinth, and is Grade II listed. In 1871, it was proposed that three statues of Sir