First Palmerston ministry | |
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1855–1858 | |
![]() Palmerston (1857) | |
Date formed | 6 February 1855 |
Date dissolved | 19 February 1858 |
People and organisations | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | Viscount Palmerston |
Total no. of members | 110 appointments |
Member party | Whig Party |
Status in legislature | |
Opposition party | Conservative Party |
Opposition leaders | |
History | |
Election | 1857 general election |
Legislature terms | |
Predecessor | Aberdeen ministry |
Successor | Second Derby–Disraeli ministry |
Lord Palmerston, of the Whigs, first formed a government by popular demand in 1855, after the resignation of the Aberdeen Coalition. Initially, the government was a continuation of the previous coalition administration but lost three Peelites (William Ewart Gladstone, Sir James Graham and Sidney Herbert) within a few weeks. However, other Peelites like The Duke of Argyll and The Viscount Canning remained in office. Palmerston was heavily criticised by Parliament in 1857 over the conduct of the Second Opium War and called a dissolution, but the nation voiced its support in the resulting general election and he returned with a Whig majority.[1]
In 1858, the Government resigned when defeated (on a measure for removing conspiracies to murder abroad from the class of misdemeanour to that of felony, which was introduced in consequence of Felice Orsini's attempt on the life of Napoleon III the emperor of the French) and was succeeded by another short-lived Conservative government under Disraeli and Lord Derby.[1]