First Palmerston ministry facts for kids

Quick facts for kids First Palmerston ministry
1855–1858
Palmerston (1857)
Date formed	6 February 1855 (1855-02-06)
Date dissolved	19 February 1858 (1858-02-19)
People and organisations
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Viscount Palmerston
Total no. of members	110 appointments
Member party	Whig Party
Status in legislature	Minority (1855–1857) Majority (1857–1858)
Opposition party	Conservative Party
Opposition leaders	Benjamin Disraeli in the House of Commons Earl of Derby in the House of Lords
History
Election(s)	1857 general election
Legislature term(s)	16th UK Parliament lost a vote of confidence 17th UK Parliament lost a vote of confidence
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.

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.

Cabinet

February 1855 – February 1858

Changes

• Later in February 1855 – Sir George Cornewall Lewis succeeds Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lord John Russell succeeds Herbert as Colonial Secretary. Sir Charles Wood succeeds Sir James Graham as First Lord of the Admiralty. R.V. Smith succeeds Wood as President of the Board of Control
• July 1855 – Sir William Molesworth succeeds Russell as Colonial Secretary. Molesworth's successor as First Commissioner of Public Works is not in the Cabinet.
• November 1855 – Henry Labouchere succeeds Molesworth as Colonial Secretary
• December 1855 – The Duke of Argyll succeeds Lord Canning as Postmaster-General. Lord Harrowby succeeds Argyll as Lord Privy Seal. Harrowby's successor as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is not in the Cabinet
• 1857 – M.T. Baines, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, enters the Cabinet.
• February 1858 – Lord Clanricarde succeeds Harrowby as Lord Privy Seal.

List of ministers

Members of the Cabinet are indicated by bold face.