There seem to me to be very few facts, at least ascertainable facts, in politics.
― Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister from 1834 - 1835 (preceded by Arthur Wellesley and succeeded by Viscount Melbourne) and then from 1841 - 1846 (preceded by Viscount Melbourne and succeeded by John Russell). Peel is best remembered as the father of the modern British police force and the man who presided over the beginning of free trade in Britain.
Peel entered politics in 1809 at the age of 21. He was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland by Prime Minister Lord Liverpool in 1810, a position in which he laid the basis for the Royal Ulster Constabulary by passing the Peace Preservation Act 1814, an act appointing additional magistrates and giving them the power to appoint special constables. He was also the head of an 1819 select committee charged with stabilising British finances. The committee recommended the return of British currency to the gold standard, which was accomplished by 1821.
Peel entered Lord Liverpool's cabinet as Home Secretary in 1822. In this capacity he introduced several reforms to British law: reducing the numbers of crimes punishable by death, simplifying criminal law by consolidating several acts into one and introducing education for prisoners. He briefly resigned in 1827 after Lord Liverpool was incapacitated and George Canning took over; however, Canning died after only four months and Arthur Wellesley took over, after which Peel returned to his post.
While at first opposed to Catholic emancipation (earning him the nickname "Orange Peel" after the anti-Catholic Orange League) Peel reversed himself and took a pro-emancipation stance after seeing that nothing good would come of discriminating against Catholics. He was a key proponent of the Sacramental Test Act 1828, the act which repealed the Test Acts (acts requiring certain officials to be members of the Anglican Church). Peel was also responsible for drawing up the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, a law striking down the remaining Test Acts and overruling Irish laws that completely disenfranchised Catholics. This cost him the respect of many Conservatives, as the party was predominantly Protestant and the act had passed with significant opposition support.
In the 19th Century London's police force consisted solely of the Bow Street Runners, a six-man group whose job it was to track down and apprehend suspected criminals. This changed in 1829, when Peel established the Metropolitan Police, a much more extensive and efficient police force. Members were affectionately known as "peelers" or "bobbies". The introduction of a new police force was unpopular at first but grew in popularity after they proved successful in cutting crime in London, to the point that by 1857 all cities were required to form their own police force. For this, Peel is now known as the father of modern policing. He is thought to have contributed to the first set of police instructions, emphasizing the importance of its civilian nature and policing by consent.
The Conservatives were voted out in 1830 due to their lack of reform. A new Conservative ministry was eventually formed by the king in 1834 under Peel, who issued a manifesto pledging that the Conservatives would endorse moderate reform. This is now seen as the basis of the modern Conservative Party. However, Peel's ministry was a minority government and was easily defeated on every issue by the Whigs and Irish Radicals until Peel resigned out of frustration after only 100 days. The only achievement of this ministry was establishing a commission to review the governing of the Church of England.
Peel was the leader of the opposition from 1835 until 1841, when he finally established a majority government. At the time Britain was suffering from an economic recession, which Peel remedied by re-introducing the income tax in 1842. This raised more money than expected, giving the government the opportunity to remove or reduce over 1,200 import tariffs. In addition, Peel kept to his promise of modest reform by introducing the Factory Act 1844, which restricted the number of hours women and children could be forced to work for and set rudimentary safety standards for working with machinery.
Peel was the target of an assassination attempt by Daniel M'Naghten in 1843, who killed his Personal Secretary Edward Drummond after mistaking him for Peel. The case led to the controversial criminal defence of insanity after M'Naghten was deemed criminally insane and acquitted of murder.
The most notable act of Peel's government was the one that would bring it down. Peel, in response to the Great Irish Famine, decided to repeal the Corn Laws, controversial laws which placed restrictions on importing grain to the United Kingdom, thus keeping the price of grain artificially high. It is now thought that Peel had always intended to repeal the laws and was using the famine as an excuse. The Conservatives voted against the bill, but the Whigs and Radicals voted in favour and it passed 327 - 229. This is now seen as the beginning of free trade in Britain and benefited the bottom 90% of earners, but it spelled the end of Peel's ministry; facing internal opposition from Benjamin Disraeli's anti-Peelite faction, Peel resigned in 1846 and was replaced by John Russell.
Even after resigning, Peel retained a hardcore group of supporters lead by William Ewart Gladstone and remained very influential in Parliamentary matters; he was integral to the repeal of the Navigation Acts, further bolstering British free trade. He was injured on 29 June 1850 when he was thrown from his horse and died three days later. After Peel's death his supporters merged with the Whigs to form the Liberal Party.