Lord John Russell was prime minister as the decade started; he was succeeded by Lords Derby, Aberdeen, Palmerston, Derby (again) & the decade ended with Palmerston once again in power. The party label of the government went Whig, Conservative, Peelite, Whig, Conservative, Liberal. All as the Conservatives tried to recover from the upheaval of the Corn Laws (& even more importantly, the Maynooth grant & support for Catholic education) & the Whigs tried to reach accommodation with the Radicals. The question of reforming the electoral system to extend the vote to the working classes was always in the background, the Irish Republican Brotherhood was stirring, but was still over there rather than over here as far as the English were concerned.
Once again we are living in interesting times with political upheavals to match. Proportional representation is the new marching cry, & we now look fearfully towards the east for religious & terrorist threats.
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