Peelites

The Peelites were the followers of the Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, after the division of parliament in 1846 due to Peel's repulsion of the Corn Laws. His actions split the Conservative party and left Peel relying on the support from the Whig party (usually the opposition), to push the repeal through parliament. The Peelites as a group lacked organisation, with no formal headquarters, and Peel himself making no effort to send Whips to generate additional support. The only step taken towards publicising the views of the group was the purchase of the 'Morning Chronicle' in 1848, which became the published voice of the Peelites. After Peel's unforeseen death in 1850, the group would not come into power again until a Whig-Peelite coalition was formalised in 1852, with George Hamilton Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen as Prime minister. The success was short-lived however, as in 1855 the Peelites where used as scapegoats for the troubles in the Crimea, and after a General Election in 1857, very few Peelites remained on the benches, the group having been absorbed fully by the Whigs.