Editing Robert Peel (section)

=== Confidence vote and resignation ===
Despite the January 1835 general election, from which Peel attempted to consolidate his party's majority in Parliament, the Conservatives still remained a minority. This made Peel's position in the Commons precarious from the start.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Peel's First Ministry |url=https://victorianweb.org/victorian/history/pms/peel/peel3.html |access-date=2024-06-01 |website=victorianweb.org}}</ref>

The immediate cause of Peel's downfall was a debate over the [[Church of Ireland]]. On 7 April 1835, Whig MP [[Ralph Bernal]] brought forward a report critical of Peel's administration of the Church of Ireland's revenues and proposed reforms. The report was passed in the [[House of Commons]] by a vote of 285 to 258, signifying a lack of confidence in Peel's government. This defeat underscored the government's inability to secure enough support to govern effectively.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Gash |first=Norman |date=1951 |title=Peel and the Party System 1830-50 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3678562 |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |volume=1 |pages=47–69 |doi=10.2307/3678562 |jstor=3678562 |issn=0080-4401}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mermagen |first1=Robert P. H. |last2=C. |first2=M. D. |date=1964 |title=The Established Church in England and Ireland: Principles of Church Reform |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/175341 |journal=Journal of British Studies |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=143–151 |doi=10.1086/385485 |jstor=175341 |issn=0021-9371}}</ref>

This loss led to Peel's resignation the following day, on 8 April 1835. The passing of the [[vote of no confidence]] highlighted the conditions in British politics at the time in a [[parliamentary system]]. After Peel's resignation, King William IV invited Lord Melbourne to form a new government, allowing the Whigs to return to power.<ref name=":10" />