Peelite
|
Peelites
|
|
|---|---|
| Founder | Robert Peel |
| Founded | 1846 |
| Dissolved | 1859 |
| Split from | Conservative Party |
| Merged into | Liberal Party |
| Ideology |
Free trade Liberal conservatism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
The Peelites were a breakaway faction of the British Conservative Party, existing from 1846 to 1859, who joined with the Whigs and Radicals to form the Liberal Party ('Liberal' referring to their position on economic matters). They were called "Peelites" because they were initially led by Sir Robert Peel, who was the British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader in 1846.
The Peelites were characterised by commitment to free trade and a managerial, almost technocratic, approach to government. Though they sought to maintain the principles of the Conservative Party, Peelites disagreed with the major wing of that party, the landed interest, on issues of trade; in particular, the issue of whether agricultural prices should be artificially kept high by tariffs. The Peelites were often called the "Liberal Conservatives", in contrast to "Protectionist Conservatives" led by Benjamin Disraeli and Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby.
In 1845, facing a serious famine in Ireland, Peel sought to lower food prices by repealing the Corn Laws. He was able to carry the repeal vote in the House of Commons, but only at the price of splitting the Conservative Party; a split which led to the fall of Peel's government in June 1846, and its replacement by a Whig government led by Lord John Russell.
The leading members of the Peelite faction that developed after the 1846 split of the Conservative Party were:
The Peelites numbered about a third of the old Conservative party following the 1847 general election. Their main political positions at that time were closer to the Protectionist Conservatives than to the Whigs and Radicals in parliament, except on the issue of Free Trade. The split had been so bitter on a personal level, though, with attacks on Peel by protectionist conservatives such as Lord George Bentinck and Benjamin Disraeli, that the Conservative Party was unable to reconcile the Peelites, even after the Conservatives officially abandoned protection in 1852.
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