Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux to power under Lord Grey. It was considered impossible to leave Brougham out of the government, although - his opponents claimed - Brougham had repeatedly (and twice in the House of Commons) stated that he would not accept office in the new administration. Grey initially offered him the post of Attorney General, which Brougham refused. He was then offered the Lord Chancellorship, which he accepted, and on 22 November he was raised to the peerage as Baron Brougham and Vaux, of Brougham in the County of Westmorland. He was to remain in this post for exactly four years. The highlights
Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux had supported William Wilberforce to support Brougham as a committed opponent of slavery However, Brougham was adopted as a Whig candidate by only a tiny majority at the nomination meeting: the Whig gentry objecting that he had no connection with agricultural interests, and no connection with the county. Brougham came second in the poll, behind the other Whig candidate; although the liberals of Leeds had placarded the town with claims that one of the Tory candidates supported slavery, this was strenuously denied by him. In November the Tory government led by the Duke of Wellington fell, and the Whigs came