Sir Robert Peel's first government succeeded the caretaker ministry of the Duke of Wellington.

Peel was also Chancellor of the Exchequer while the Duke of Wellington served as Foreign Secretary.

A young William Ewart Gladstone held office as a Junior Lord of the Treasury, his first governmental post in a ministerial career that would span for the next sixty years.

The Peel ministry was a minority government, and relied on Whig support.

However, this the Whigs felt disinclined to give, joining with the Irish radicals to defeat the Conservatives at every turn.