Premiership of Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool

This article is about Lord Liverpool's tenure as prime minister of the United Kingdom. For the people in his ministry, see Liverpool ministry.

Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool began his tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 8 June 1812 when he was invited to form a government by the Prince Regent following the assassination of Spencer Perceval on 11 May. The appointment came after the Prince Regent attempted to appoint four other men to office who were ultimately unable to form their ministries, leaving Liverpool (the Prince Regent's fifth choice for the position) as successor. As Prime Minister, he simultaneously held the position of First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Lords.

Premiership of Lord Liverpool 8 June 1812 – 9 April 1827
Monarchs	George III and George IV
Cabinet	Liverpool ministry
Party	Tory
Seat	10 Downing Street
Coat of arms of HM Government

Liverpool's tenure as Prime Minister from 1812 to 1827 oversaw pivotal change in Britain during a significant period in the country's history. His early years in office came at a time when the social and cultural forces stifled by the outgoing Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. After assuming the premiership, he increased the war efforts against Napoleonic France by deploying British troops to Europe, financial and military support for the Allied powers that finally led to a decisive victory at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. Liverpool set out a major peace settlement after the war, largely negotiated by his Foreign Secretary Lord Castlereagh that was followed by the Congress of Vienna, which sought not to impose harsh reparations from France, that left it with most of its colonies and gained Britain additional colonies and status as a major power on the continent. A final victory over Napoleon was one at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 that saw Napoleon defeated and exiled to Saint Helena, conclusively ending the war.

At home, Liverpool was forced to face the burden of post-war reconstruction that saw large-scale social unrest, economic depression, and radical activism. To counter such issues, he implemented policies such as the oppressive Six Acts that were hailed as often reactionary and authoritarian leading to a turbulent period during half of his years in office. Civil unrest saw dissent spread throughout the country with some culminating in violent clashes that led to the Peterloo Massacre in 1819 and him and his cabinet being targeted for assassination. His approach to government policy and reform were characterised by conservatism and pragmatic caution. By 1820s, his government increasingly shifted towards a more liberal faction of the Tory Party that influenced some of its later policies including the passing of the Cotton Mills Act in 1819, the abolition of the death penalty for many crimes and the passing of the Gaols Act in 1823 and the repeal of the Combination Acts in 1824. His economic policy was dominated by raising national debt and economic stagnation that led to the implementation of heavy taxation and harsh austerity measures by his government that lead to domestic unrest. By 1819, the country saw an economic revival that saw lowering taxes, a rapid shift towards free trade and lower tariffs on imported goods.

Liverpool was in office for an unbroken of 14 years, making him the third longest serving prime minister in British history. However, the ever-growing calls for parliamentary reform, Catholic emancipation and declining health led to his eventual downfall. In February 1827, Liverpool suffered a stroke that left him incapacitated and unable to run the government effectively and asked the King to choose a successor. He retired on 9 April and was succeeded by his Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons George Canning. Historians and those who held a low estimation of his abilities, recognise Liverpool as a skilled politician. This recognition is largely due to his administration's longevity and upholding stability to counter unrest both before and after his premiership is evident. Some historical accounts tend to credit Liverpool for mediating cabinet disputes during and holding party unity during his time in office before the political upheaval that followed after his resignation. Liverpool's management of the country's economic issues and social affairs , ensuring the defeat of Napoleon and his approach to the subsequent peace that followed set Britain on a path to prosperity and effective stability for the following century. In light of these achievements to both domestic and foreign policy, historians rank Liverpool highly among British prime ministers.

Background

At 5:15 pm on Monday, 11 May 1812, Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was assassinated as he entered the lobby of the Houses of Parliament by a disgruntled merchant John Bellingham. In the weeks before the assassination, he had been a regular visitor to Parliament, meticulously observing the members of the House of Commons. After firing the pistol, Bellingham made no effort to flee and he was tried and executed for murder. Perceval died immediately before a surgeon could attend to his wounds. Perceval had provided much needed effective leadership, which was rare since the passing of William Pitt the Younger.

The Prince Regent and many others who underestimated Perceval, saw no major concern with replacing the government with a new one despite the Cabinet's concerns, particularly about replacing Perceval's authority in the House of Commons, which they chose to override. To maintain unity, as in the previous ministry, they avoided the most contentious issue of the time, Catholic emancipation, which had began to be a major topic of contention between party lines since the notion had been mainstream. This time, the Prince Regent agreed to appoint a government that would not introduce any measures on the matter and a subject that Cabinet ministers be allowed to speak and vote freely if it was raised by others.

Premiership (1812–1827)

Appointment as Prime Minister

After the Assassination of Spencer Perceval in May 1812, George, the Prince Regent, successively tried to appoint four men to succeed Perceval, but failed. Jenkinson, the Prince Regent's fifth choice for the post, reluctantly accepted office on 8 June 1812. Initially, the Prince Regent wanted to appoint Liverpool as prime minister to gain the support of George Canning, Richard Wellesley, Charles Grey, and William Grenville. Among them, Canning and Wellesley appeared to be the likely to join a new government as their only point of contention with a potential ministry was the issue of Catholic emancipation. However, both refused to accept office with backbench Tory MP Stuart Wortley effectively moved a vote of no confidence, which passed by a majority of four that ended the leaderless Perceval ministry.

With no other option, the Prince Regent complied with the wishes of the Commons and called Wellesley to form a new Ministry, who in turn sought the assistance of Canning. However, the outgoing ministers in the long dead government declined to join the new ministry. Wellesley and Canning, who were sympathetic to Catholic emancipation led to the Prince Regent turning back to Liverpool, asking him to form a ministry that included both Wellesley and Canning, but Liverpool, believing his leadership would be untenable under such conditions, refused again. The Regent again approached Wellesley, without success, and then attempted to form a Whig Ministry with Moira. This effort also failed due to a conflict over the Whigs' attempt to influence the composition of the Regent's household.

Finally, on 8 June 1812, the Prince Regent once again turned to Liverpool. Jenkinson was proposed as successor by the cabinet office and Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh who acted as leader in the House of Commons. The Prince Regent, however, found it impossible to form a different coalition to advance an alternative candidate and confirmed Jenkinson as prime minister on 8 June. Although initially reluctant to take office, he accepted position out of duty as an experienced government minister and administrator. Only a few expected his premiership to last long as his government seemed to appear insecure. Fortunately major opposition from the Whigs was minimal since it was weakened and divided. He was able to rely on the military talents of the Duke of Wellington and the political support of Lord Sidmouth and Castlereagh. Liverpool assumed the office of Prime Minister on his 42nd birthday, making him younger than all of his successors.

Cabinet and government

Further information: Liverpool ministry

Liverpool's government included some of the future leaders of Britain, such as Lord Castlereagh, George Canning, the Duke of Wellington, Robert Peel, and William Huskisson. Liverpool was considered an experienced and skilled politician, and held together the liberal and reactionary wings of the Tory party, which his successors, Canning, Goderich and Wellington, had great difficulty with. An effort was made to bring Canning into the cabinet, but was unsuccessful, as Canning refused to serve with Castlereagh in the Commons despite the latter offering to resign as Foreign Secretary in favour of Canning and assume the role of Chancellor of the Exchequer, which Canning also declined. As a result, the new government began on uncertain path with Castlereagh moved to the Foreign Office, Lord Eldon continuing as Lord Chancellor, Lord Sidmouth as Home Secretary, Earl Bathurst as War Secretary and Nicholas Vansittart at the Exchequer.

Liverpool's ministers were highly talented, with six of the next ten prime ministers having served under him. His most notable colleagues, such as Castlereagh, Canning, and Peel, are often credited with the government's successes. Liverpool was skilled primarily in calming ministerial tensions. A late nineteenth-century biographical dictionary described him as 'not an able or eloquent man', but 'under his mild supremacy politicians of opposite views were content to live on decent terms'.

Foreign affairs and external policies

War

The Congress of Vienna by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, 1819

Liverpool's ministry was a long and eventful one. At the beginning of his premiership, Liverpool was faced directly with conflict, the War of 1812 with the United States and the final campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars were fought during Liverpool's governance. It was during his ministry that the Peninsular Campaigns were fought, where the British army led by the Duke of Wellington drove the French out of Spain and Portugal that lasted six years. One of the first initiatives of the new government was to yield to agitation led by Henry Brougham in calling for the withdrawal of the Orders in Council which were issued in 1807 to retaliate against Napoleon's Continental System. However, the Orders angered neutral nations (particularly the United States) along with most British manufacturing and trading interests. The disintegration of the Perceval ministry removed the primary barrier to their repeal, but the change came too late to prevent war with the United States. The new government quickly became popular due to Napoleon's deteriorating invasion of Russia, victories in Spain under Wellington's success at the Battle of Salamanca in 1812.

Liverpool was personally convinced of the significance of the campaign. When Wellington complained about the campaign's management and lack of funds, he assured him that there was strong agreement with particular focus on Portugal with the government prioritising the Iberian Peninsula over other theatres like Sicily and the Italian peninsula, except when necessary. Only after 1813, as Napoleonic power waned, did the Cabinet turn its attention to Italy, capturing Genoa in April 1814. Liverpool's administration aimed to unite the continent's combined military force against France with heavy financial and military support were provided to the allies which costed £13 million from March to November 1813.

By 1814, Napoleon was defeated by the Coalition armies at the Battle of Leipzig followed by his subsequent exile. That year negotiations at the Congress of Vienna began. Liverpool defended the actions of the allies and Castlereagh's negotiations to the Prince Regent, the Cabinet, and Parliament enabling the government to negotiate with far more confidence. The government aimed to restore the deposed Bourbon monarchy and to dictate a moderate peace with limited reparations from France during peace talks. Following this success, celebrations were held alongside the visits of the allied sovereigns to the country. Displays of military strength at Portsmouth and industrial power were presented during the visit of the allied monarchs. The year marked a high level of public acclaim for Liverpool and his government.

Congress of Vienna

France was utterly defeated in the Napoleonic Wars, and Liverpool was appointed to the Order of the Garter that same year. At the peace negotiations that followed, Liverpool's main concern was to obtain a European settlement that would ensure the independence of the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal, and confine France inside its pre-war frontiers without damaging its national integrity. To achieve this, he was ready to return all British colonial conquests. Earlier, Liverpool objected to handing over British colonial conquests acquired during the war due to fears of public criticism. In response, Castlereagh famously said 'it is not our business to collect trophies, but to try [to] bring back the world to peaceful habits.' Within this broad framework, he gave Castlereagh a discretion at the Congress of Vienna, the next most important event of his ministry. At the congress, he gave prompt approval for Castlereagh's bold initiative in making the defensive alliance with Austria and France in January 1815. In the aftermath of the defeat of Napoleon – who had briefly been exiled to the island Elba, but had escaped exile and returned to rule France. The allies immediately began mobilising their armies to fight the escaped emperor and a combined Anglo-Allied army was sent under the command of Wellington to assist Britain's allies. Within a few months, Napoleon was decisively defeated at Waterloo in June that year, after many years of war, peace followed through the now exhausted continent.

At Vienna, Britain was able to achieved many of its aims due its different conception of post-war interests that varied from nations like Prussia, Russia, and Austria who sought harsh reparations in terms of large territorial gains while Britain's aims were primarily focused on establishing a balance of power in Europe to ensure peace and prevention of another conflict. However, Britain feared the rise of a powerful France and the influence of Russia in future, which lead to Castlereagh advocating for a robust Prussia with expanded territories from Germany and an independent Poland with liberal democratic values. Britain also aimed to establish new buffer states around France along the United Provinces of the Netherlands, a neutral Switzerland, and Austrian-influenced Italy. Aside from strategic goals, Liverpool advocated successfully for the wider abolition of the slave trade, which the Congress condemned, and secured international maritime rights for British. Castlereagh managed to have France reduced to its pre-Napoleonic size without punitive damage which was a major consensus at the Congress, although Britain remained relatively disengaged from continental affairs. Despite this success, British diplomacy faced criticism at home; the extensive financial and military efforts against Napoleon seemed to yield little, as the restoration of the Bourbons was not what British public opinion desired, and opportunities to spread liberal values in France and Poland were missed. Britain gained no European territory, securing only some overseas colonies, notably South Africa.

In September 1814, Liverpool wrote to Castlereagh and Wellington, to reflect on Britain's support for the Swedish acquisition of Norway, a matter which he described as "the most awkward and embarrassing of any in our European politics". His concerns centred around the country's newfound treaty obligations and support for the allies that were being fulfilled by maintaining a blockade until Christian VIII abdicated the throne and Norwegian fortresses were secured by Swedish troops. He writes that the Swedish government had engaged with the Norwegian Diet regarding the union and internal governance, interpreting the Treaty of Stockholm to present that Britain had not guaranteed Norway to Sweden but had avoided such a commitment. This interpretation aligned with his arguments in the House of Lords and revealed Britain's reluctance to publicly acknowledge this stance, fearing it might encourage anti-union sentiments in Norway. Despite believing the policy of uniting Norway with Sweden to be in the best of interest, Liverpool confessed his discomfort with the situation, acknowledging the international consequences posed by applying norms of the law of nations not to another government but to a people. This conferred on the tension between Britain's objective of rewarding Sweden's alliance against Napoleonic France with Norway, supported by Russia and the conflicting international norms at the Congress of Vienna that later influenced Liverpool's positions on foreign policy.

The British Empire at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815

Domestic affairs and internal policies

The Corn Laws

Inevitably taxes rose to compensate for borrowing and to pay off the national debt, which led to widespread disturbance between 1812 and 1822. Around this time, the group known as Luddites began industrial action, by smashing industrial machines developed for use in the textile industries of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. Throughout the period 1811–1816, there was a series of incidents of machine-breaking and many of those convicted faced execution.

Agriculture remained a problem because good harvests between 1819 and 1822 had brought down prices and evoked a cry for greater protection. When the powerful agricultural lobby in Parliament demanded protection in the aftermath, Liverpool gave in to political necessity. Under governmental supervision the notorious Corn Laws of 1815 were passed prohibiting the import of foreign wheat until the domestic price reached a minimum accepted level. Liverpool, however, was in principle a free-trader, but had to accept the bill as a temporary measure to ease the transition to peacetime conditions. The laws sought to keep prices at 80 shillings per quarter and protect the expanded grain farms, but failed to address the issue of high prices. This they caused food prices to fluctuate violently at high levels and encouraged the hoarding of corn. His chief economic problem during his time as Prime Minister was that of the nation's finances. Later historian Robert Blake called the Corn Laws "one of the most naked pieces of class legislation in British history."

The interest on the national debt, massively swollen by the enormous expenditure of the final war years, together with the war pensions, absorbed the greater part of normal government revenue. The refusal of the House of Commons in 1816 to continue the wartime income tax left ministers with no immediate alternative but to go on with the ruinous system of borrowing to meet necessary annual expenditure. Liverpool eventually facilitated a return to the gold standard in 1819. Assertions that gold payments could be resumed at the old rate "without material distress" became overstated as the required deflation led to a further 28% drop in prices between 1818 and 1821 and triggered a sharp recession. However, in 1819, the recession was nearly as severe as that of 1816-17 and quite unexpected, it was also very brief. Between November and December, the recession rapidly slowed and ended before the next Parliamentary session.

Liverpool argued for the abolition of the wider slave trade at the Congress of Vienna, and at home he supported the repeal of the Combination Laws banning workers from combining into trade unions in 1824. In the latter year the newly formed Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, later the RNLI, obtained Liverpool as its first president.

Dissent and repression

Liverpool and his government faced significant public disturbances with the Spa Fields riots in 1816, the Pentrich rising in Derbyshire and March of the Blanketeers in 1817 and the infamous Peterloo Massacre in 1819. A primary cause of the events being unrest unemployment, exacerbated by the end of wartime industry contracts and the demobilisation of soldiers with the end of the war that rendered many workers, particularly hand-loom weavers, redundant. Additionally, living and working conditions in new industrial towns were deplorable.

In the countryside, conditions were even worse. Enclosure and population pressure drove many rural workers to move to towns, while those who stayed faced poor wages and harsh living conditions. In southern England, wages were so low that workers relied on the Poor Law under the Speenhamland System to supplement their income. This economic hardship contributed significantly to the widespread discontent during this period. Alongside these conditions, Luddite uprisings combined with widespread frame breaking epidemics, viewed as a form of tech-conservatism and as an early form of unionism and an important example of collective bargaining, were common place despite being illegal under the Combination Act 1799. The government, in response, sided with industrial magnates and introduced two pieces of legislation to counter the unrest: the Framework Bill, which imposed the death penalty for breaking frames, and the Bill for the Preservation of Peace in the County of Nottingham, which gave local authorities the power to appoint special constables.

Government policies further fuelled discontent with passing of the Corn Laws in 1815, keeping bread prices high, making it difficult for the poor to afford basic sustenance. The abolition of income tax in 1816 led to a rise in indirect taxes, which disproportionately affected the poorer population. These policies added to the financial strain on the already struggling working class.

In response to growing discontent, Liverpool and his ministers, fearing a revolutionary outbreak similar to the French Revolution of 1789, implemented repressive measures to maintain order. Habeas corpus was suspended, and the Seditious Meetings Act was passed in 1817 to curb public gatherings. Spies were sent to monitor industrial areas with high levels of discontent, and troops were deployed to disperse crowds, notably at the Peterloo Massacre. This later led to criticism and he was despised as the most repressive leader the country ever had to that point. The government also enacted the Six Acts in 1819, which increased magistrates' powers to search, arrest, and try political cases without a jury. Additionally, the stamp duty on journals was increased to make publications like Cobbett's Political Register too expensive for working men. Despite these measures, the powers granted by the Six Acts were not widely used, but the overall approach underscored the government's commitment to suppressing dissent through repression. By 1824, the Vagrancy Act was also passed by Liverpool's government with individuals being broadly categorised as "idle and disorderly Persons, and rogues and vagabonds," with fortune tellers, common prostitutes, and destitute former soldiers and sailors struggling to survive, were subject to imprisonment and hard labour for unlawful conduct.

Assassination attempt

Print of the Peterloo Massacre published by Richard Carlile

The reports of the secret committees he obtained in 1817 pointed to the existence of an organised network of disaffected political societies, especially in the manufacturing areas. Liverpool told Peel that the disaffection in the country seemed even worse than in 1794. On 28 June of that year, when the new session of Parliament was to be recalled, the Prince Regent was driven to Westminster to initiate the proceedings when his carriage was mobbed and with the carriage being pelted with a stone or shot at by bullets by a crowd. This led to Parliamentary adjourning after the news of the attack was received when in the House of Lords with members of both houses sending letters of condolences to the Prince. Because of a largely perceived threat to the government, temporary legislation was introduced. He suspended habeas corpus in both Great Britain (1817) and Ireland (1822). In 1818, a general election was called, the first since the end of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars and were contested during a time of great turmoil. The election changed little but the end results gave Liverpool and his government a sizeable majority in Parliament which firmly cemented his power despite soaring unpopularity. In August 1819, a crowd of 60,000 gathered at St. Peter’s Fields to demand parliamentary reform and universal suffrage when rumours of an armed insurrection was falsely circulating by the local magistrates, leading to the deployment of the army and cavalry, that quickly descended to violence. Following the Peterloo Massacre in 1819, his government imposed the repressive Six Acts legislation which limited, among other things, free speech and the right to gather for peaceful demonstration. In 1820, as a result of these measures, Liverpool and other cabinet ministers were targeted for assassination. They escaped harm when the Cato Street conspiracy was foiled.

Liberal reforms

As a part of the Liverpool government's new liberal agenda, it passed the Relief and Toleration Act  that granted major religious freedom for Unitarians and Dissenters in 1819, the Poor Employment Act that allocated funds to local factories for improving public works and a Truck Act, which attempted limit the unfair practice of employers paying factory workers in goods rather than wages. It regulated child labour with the passing of the Cotton Mills Act in 1819, which prohibited the employment of children under 9 in cotton factories and limited their workday to 12 hours until the age of 16.

After 1822, Lord Liverpool's government began a significant shift toward liberal policies as a result of the influence exerted by the "enlightened" faction of the Tory Party. The shift is evident in the repealing of harsher punishments in the Penal Code, which initially listed 200 crimes punishable by death. Robert Peel, the Home Secretary, was instrumental in introducing moderate reform with legislation that addressed 75% of all criminal offences, significantly reduced the number of crimes punishable by capital punishment, and abolished the Six Acts. Additionally, Peel introduced the Gaols Act 1823, which mandated regular visits by prison chaplains and ensured that gaolers received payment, moving them away from dependency on inmates for their income.

By 1824, the government also effectively nullified the Combination Acts. Francis Place and Joseph Hume successfully established a Select Committee of Inquiry chaired by William Huskisson, which found the Combination Acts fostered mutual distrust and violent behaviour. Place observed that the bills passed with little opposition, as Hume wisely chose not to debate them publicly. Following the repeal, public unrest intensified with a surge in trade union activity which caused strikes and violence leading to Place criticising the government's decision to reevaluate trade union laws, especially condemning Huskisson for his alarmist stance and absence from debates. In 1825, the government responded by reinforcing the Conspiracy Laws and amending the repeal legislation to restrict the purposes of labour movements.

Economic policy

Further information: United Kingdom in the Napoleonic Wars

Liverpool's tenure after 1815 coincided with the country facing a severe financial strain due to long-term wartime spending, leading to high and unpopular taxation and the circulation of 'cheap' paper money since 1797. Income tax, which accounted for about a fifth of government revenue, and indirect taxes, which raised food prices and affected the working class unfairly, were critical components of the financial system. The government's expenditure in 1814-1815 exceeded its tax income by 45%, and the national debt had surged to £902 million by 1816, with 80% of expenditure needed to pay loan interest.

To address the financial instability, Liverpool began reducing public spending and paying off debts, known as retrenchment. Transitioning to lower peacetime taxation required an indefinite time, and income tax was central to achieving financial stability. Despite its unpopularity, income tax was abolished in 1816 after a successful campaign by the Whigs, which led Liverpool to cut government spending, borrow funds, and increase indirect taxes to compensate for the lost income.

Abolishing income tax, forced Liverpool to implement austerity measures, including reducing military spending and cutting official salaries. Despite these cuts, by 1818, most government revenue was consumed by debt interest and pensions for veterans. Liverpool then established a Select Committee on Currency, which recommended a return to the Gold Standard by 1823. This transition, completed ahead of schedule in 1821, helped stabilise the economy, though it faced mixed reactions from various economic sectors.

However by 1818, Liverpool achieved a balanced budget, but the need to borrow money to service existing debts persisted, leading to rising interest rates and a growing National Debt. Criticism from the radical press, landowners, and industrialists highlighted the need for financial reform. A second committee's review of government finance led to his Chancellor, Nicholas Vansittart, introducing the 1819 budget, which introduced new taxes and used government reserves to balance the budget which established fiscal principles aimed at maintaining a surplus of tax income over government spending and restoring public confidence in the government's finances.

Liverpool was an advocate of free trade and laissez-faire capitalism, in which pretence he supported measures to move the country towards close economic relations with Europe and the United States. Before 1823, British trade was governed by restrictive protectionist laws with imported goods being subject to varying duties. That year, under the oversight of the President of the Board of Trade, Huskisson introduced a significant change by implementing a uniform 30% tariff and eased the Navigation Acts, allowing British colonies to engage in direct trade with other nations using their own ships, while still paying taxes to Britain. In 1824, the government further lowered tariffs on rum, wool, and raw silk, followed by reductions on coffee, cotton, copper ore, iron ore, glass, and paper in 1825.

Panic of 1825

In 1825, a banking crisis emerged after speculations in Latin America and particularly in the fictional country of Poyais which caused a stock market crash and triggered bank runs. By spring, the Bank of England exacerbated the crisis by contracting the monetary base and raising the discount rate amid banking turmoil. This act of last resort, coupled with widespread commercial failures and plummeting bond values, led to the collapse of several banks. To resolve the situation, Liverpool held confidential discussions with Cornelius Buller, Governor of the Bank of England, and his deputy, John Baker Richards by noting the need to prevent the collapse of the banking system amid widespread speculation and the bursting of stock market bubbles. He knew he could not obtain parliamentary approval for financial intervention, as many members of parliament were predominantly tax-paying landowners, who were sceptical of London's financiers. Liverpool had cautioned bankers against excessive trading, warning that he would not allow the use of Treasury funds to prevent bankruptcy in the event of a financial crisis. However, he knew that the Bank of England, with its semi-private status and significant autonomy, might intervene given its role as the principal financial institution of the country. Liverpool also hinted that bank could exceed its legal limits on note issuance and use its gold reserves. The crisis was ended, when the Bank of England gave out £5 million on 14 December and another substantial £51 million in final two weeks. The bank reserves were also filled with gold bullion exchanged by swapping silver for gold with the Bank of France.

Catholic emancipation

During the 19th century, and, in particular, during Liverpool's time in office, Catholic emancipation was a source of great conflict. In 1805, in his first important statement of his views on the subject, Liverpool had argued that the special relationship of the monarch with the Church of England, and the refusal of Roman Catholics to take the oath of supremacy, justified their exclusion from political power. Throughout his career, he remained opposed to the idea of Catholic emancipation, though he did see marginal concessions as important to the stability of the nation.

The decision of 1812 to remove the issue from collective cabinet policy, followed in 1813 by the defeat of Grattan's Roman Catholic Relief Bill, brought a period of calm. Liverpool supported marginal concessions such as the admittance of English Roman Catholics to the higher ranks of the armed forces, the magistracy, and the parliamentary franchise; but he remained opposed to their participation in parliament itself. In the 1820s, pressure from the liberal wing of the Commons and the rise of the Catholic Association in Ireland revived the controversy.

By the date of Sir Francis Burdett's Catholic Relief Bill in 1825, emancipation looked a likely success. Indeed, the success of the bill in the Commons in April, followed by Robert Peel's tender of resignation, finally persuaded Liverpool that he should retire. When Canning made a formal proposal that the cabinet should back the bill, Liverpool was convinced that his administration had come to its end. George Canning then succeeded him as prime minister. Catholic emancipation however was not fully implemented until the major changes of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 under the leadership of the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel, and with the work of the Catholic Association established in 1823.

Resignation

In 1826, Parliament remained silent on the issue of Catholic emancipation due to the approaching general election. The election was fought and won on the Liverpool ministry's strong record but also was heavily contested around the Catholic question, with a strong 'Protestant' wave bolstered by support across the country. The end results gave the Tories nineteen seats and losing four seats in Ireland. Nevertheless, the government's position was stronger than their peak in 1812. However, by late 1826, Liverpool, saw his health was visibly decline, knew beforehand that the issues of the Corn Laws and Catholic emancipation would likely bring down his ministry. He wrote to Chancellor Lord Robinson, stating: "The government hangs by a thread. The Catholic question in its present state, combined with other circumstances will, I have little doubt, lead to its dissolution during the course of this session." The final blow to his health came during the funeral of the Duke of York in February 1827. Liverpool and Canning were forced to stand on freezing flagstones for several hours, which ultimately worsened Liverpool's condition.

After suffering a stroke on 27 February 1827, Liverpool was left incapacitated and incapable of effectively running the government. Possible successors for office included Peel and Wellington with the former being considered to be 'a sort of man that it would be no disgrace for the Duke [of Wellington] to act with in that capacity.' In the end, Canning was chosen as his successor on 14 April.The King's appointment of Canning as Prime Minister led to the mass resignations of prominent conservative politicians and five members of the current government, which forced him to a form a government of moderate Tories and Whigs that lasted 119 days until his death.

Further reading

• Hutchinson, Martin (2008). Great Conservatives. Academica Press. pp. 28–32. ISBN 9781930901865.
• Robertson, Tom. Lord Liverpool: A Reappraisal of the First Conservative Prime Minister.