Canningites were a faction of
British Tories in the first decade of the 19th century through the 1820s who were led by
George Canning
George Canning (11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as Foreign Secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the Unit ...
. The Canningites were distinct within the Tory party because they favoured
Catholic emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
and
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...
.
After the incapacity of
Lord Liverpool in 1827, Canning was asked to form a government. Because Canning did not have the full support of the Tory party, which was split between Canningites and
Ultra-Tories, he created a coalition government with his Canningites allying themselves with the
Whigs. Canning died in August 1827 and the Canningite
Lord Goderich
Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon, (1 November 1782 – 28 January 1859), styled The Honourable F. J. Robinson until 1827 and known between 1827 and 1833 as The Viscount Goderich (pronounced ), the name by which he is best known to ...
became Prime Minister, but his government collapsed in January 1828. The Canningites then allied themselves with the Tories, led by the
Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
. They resigned in May 1828, though, on the issue of allocating seats from disenfranchised corrupt boroughs to the new growing cities of England.
Now usually known as the 'Huskissonites' (after their new leader,
William Huskisson) the group numbered a bare dozen or so in the House of Commons, with greater support in the House of Lords. For the next year and half they acted a separate group between the two main parties, and were courted by both. After Huskisson died in 1830 (in a railway accident, the first recorded casualty of this new form of transport), the remainder of the group decided to join the Whigs and voted against the Tory government in a parliament in favour of electoral reform. Wellington resigned as prime minister and the surviving Canningite/Huskissonites joined the new Whig cabinet of
Earl Grey in November 1830. Very soon after they ceased to act as a recognisable separate political grouping.
In addition to Goderich and Huskisson, prominent Canningites included:
*
Granville Leveson-Gower
*
Edward John Littleton
*
Lord Melbourne
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...
*
Viscount Palmerston
Viscount Palmerston was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 12 March 1723 for Henry Temple, who subsequently represented East Grinstead, Bossiney and Weobley in the British House of Commons. He was made Baron Temple, of Mount T ...
*
William Sturges Bourne
*
Robert John Wilmot-Horton
*
Charles Grant Charles or Charlie Grant may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Charles Jameson Grant (), American editorial cartoonist
* Charles L. Grant (1942–2006), American novelist
* Charles Grant (actor) (born 1957), American actor
* Charles Grant (dancer ...
Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom
Political party factions in the United Kingdom
Political parties established in the 19th century
1820s establishments in the United Kingdom
Political parties disestablished in 1830
1830 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
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