Entering the House of Commons in 1809, Robert Peel
rose to a position of prominence in the Government of
Lord Liverpool, becoming Home Secretary in 1822. In
this office, he founded Britain's first recognisable police
force - the London 'Peelers' or 'Bobbies'.
An opponent of Parliamentary reform, Peel was
instrumental in rebuilding the Tory party in opposition after
the 1832 Reform Act. His 'Tamworth Manifesto', a speech to constituents, was an influential ideological statement pointing to the party's transformation into the'Conservatives'. He is best remembered, however, for the later repeal of the Corn Laws - which caused his followers, the Peelites, to defect from the party: and he died a national hero, mourned as a man who had sacrificed his own career to the cause of cheap bread for the poor.
