ABSTRACT
As an examination of the 1841 election suggests (Chapter 7), Peel’s victorious Conservative party was not naturally sympathetic to free trade ideas. Peel’s difficulties with his backbenchers stemmed not just from ideological differences but also from different conceptions both of party and the nature of political loyalty. As we have seen, Peel saw his role as the Queen’s minister discharging his responsibilities according to the national interest. It was part of his responsibility to interpret what that national interest might be. Backbench Tories largely interpreted the national interest as the landed interest writ large and buttressed by the Church of England.
