Melbourne and the years of Reform, Part I

At last fortune favoured William Lamb. In February 1827, Lord Liverpool, the Prime Minister, had a stroke. Bereft of his placid and reconciling hand, the Government split into two opposing sections; the Ultra-Tories and the Canningite Tories. Which of the two was to obtain control depended on the unpredictable caprice of George IV. After the usual hesitations, he asked Canning to form a Government. Rather than serve under him, the Ultras led by the Duke of Wellington resigned. Canning therefore, in order to fill the gap left by their secession, turned to his Whig followers, notably Palmerston and Lamb. Even now it seemed as if William’s ironical lazy indifference might lose him his chance. To his sister Emily’s exasperation, he chose to leave London at the very moment the Government was forming. However, when the list of candidates for office was placed before the King—“William Lamb!” he exclaimed, his memory aglow with pleasing recollections of old Carlton House convivialities. “William Lamb—put him anywhere you like!” In May he was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland. It was the turning point in Lamb’s life.