July 1837
General election

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Victoria's accession to the throne means a general election must be held. The Whigs, who have been in government for much of the 1830s, hold on to power and Lord Melbourne remains prime minister, with Viscount Palmerston as foreign secretary. However, the Whigs have slowed the pace of social reform and are losing the confidence of the working classes. They have enacted harsh legislation to suppress the growing trades union movement, and there is controversy over the fact that they now rely on the support of Irish MPs, led by Daniel O'Connell, who seek to repeal the 1800 Act of Union and separate Ireland from Britain.

These issues help the new-look Conservative Party, led by Robert Peel, to make great gains. Peel has modernised the Tories by accepting the wider voting rights introduced in 1832 (see The vote), and by designing policies to appeal to the new middle classes as well as to landowners. To reflect these changes, he has renamed the party 'Conservative'.

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