Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby led the "Who? Who?" ministry, a short-lived British Conservative government which was in power for a matter of months in 1852. Lord Derby was Prime Minister and

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

served as

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

. It marked the first time the protectionist wing of the Conservative Party had taken office since the Corn Laws schism of 1846. It is also called the First Derby–Disraeli ministry. Early in 1852 Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, by then very deaf, gave Derby's first government its nickname by shouting "Who? Who?" as the list of inexperienced Cabinet Ministers was read out in the House of Lords.

History

Portrait of the Duke of Wellington, 1844, by Antoine Claudet

After the fall of Lord John Russell's

Whig government In British politics, a Whig government may refer to the following British governments administered by the Whigs: * Whig Junto, a name given to a group of leading Whigs who were seen to direct the management of the Whig Party **First Whig Junto, th ...

in early 1852, the Conservative leader Lord Derby formed a government. The Conservatives had been weakened by the defection of the

Peelite The Peelites were a breakaway dissident political faction of the British Conservative Party from 1846 to 1859. Initially led by Robert Peel, the former Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader in 1846, the Peelites supported free trade whilst ...

s, and many of the new Cabinet ministers were men of little experience. The government became known as the "Who? Who?" Ministry after Wellington's comments, due to the lack of prominence of its ministers. The government was in a significant minority, and lasted less than a year, collapsing in December. The Whigs and Peelites then formed a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

under the Peelite leader Lord Aberdeen. Though the government had little impact, it attracted derision through its plethora of new political names, which demonstrated the relative inexperience of the party. Only four members of the Cabinet (Derby himself, St Leonards, Lonsdale, and Herries) were existing

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

s and many others were complete political unknowns.

Cabinet

February 1852 – December 1852

List of ministers

Cabinet members are listed in bold face.

References

Bibliography

*C. Cook and B. Keith, ''British Historical Facts 1830–1900''

External links

* {{British ministries British ministries 1852 establishments in the United Kingdom 1852 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Government Minority governments Ministries of Queen Victoria Benjamin Disraeli Cabinets established in 1852 Cabinets disestablished in 1852 1850s in the United Kingdom