First Palmerston ministry

First Palmerston ministry
1855–1858
Palmerston (1857)
Date formed	6 February 1855 (1855-02-06)
Date dissolved	19 February 1858 (1858-02-19)
People and organisations
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Viscount Palmerston
Total no. of members	110 appointments
Member party	Whig Party
Status in legislature	Minority (1855–1857) Majority (1857–1858)
Opposition party	Conservative Party
Opposition leaders	Benjamin Disraeli in the House of Commons Earl of Derby in the House of Lords
History
Election	1857 general election
Legislature terms	16th UK Parliament lost a vote of confidence 17th UK Parliament lost a vote of confidence
Predecessor	Aberdeen ministry
Successor	Second Derby–Disraeli ministry

Lord Palmerston, of the Whigs, first formed a government by popular demand in 1855, after the resignation of the Aberdeen Coalition. Initially, the government was a continuation of the previous coalition administration but lost three Peelites (William Ewart Gladstone, Sir James Graham and Sidney Herbert) within a few weeks. However, other Peelites like The Duke of Argyll and The Viscount Canning remained in office. Palmerston was heavily criticised by Parliament in 1857 over the conduct of the Second Opium War and called a dissolution, but the nation voiced its support in the resulting general election and he returned with a Whig majority.^[1]

In 1858, the Government resigned when defeated (on a measure for removing conspiracies to murder abroad from the class of misdemeanour to that of felony, which was introduced in consequence of Felice Orsini's attempt on the life of Napoleon III the emperor of the French) and was succeeded by another short-lived Conservative government under Disraeli and Lord Derby.^[1]