Chapter 107
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: The Showdown
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“Now, now, wait! I’m not finished talking yet!”
As I turned to head back to the palace, Robert Peel cried out desperately, grabbing hold of me.
“What is it? I don’t have time for this.”
If Victoria knew I’d interrupted our tea time for a conversation less meaningful than pointless chatter, her anger would only intensify. Shouldn't we just leave it at that?
“If I’ve proposed a draw, shouldn’t you at least hear my reasons?”
“Do I really need to? And if you have something to say, you should be speaking to Lord Wellesley, who is over there giving another one of his passionate speeches, not me.”
“I’m doing this precisely because he won’t even see me. You need to go and relay my message to Wellesley. Tell him that at this rate, we’re both headed for mutual destruction.”
“Both of us? From where I’m standing, I only see one person headed that way.”
“Ha. This is why you youngsters lack experience. Of course, it’s a fact that I have no way of beating you in the current situation. I admit it.”
If he couldn’t admit that even now, he wouldn't be human.
He’d been abandoned by the House of Lords, and the moment he saw Victoria’s business-like reaction to his plea for royal mediation, he must have gotten the picture.
“If you have no way of winning, you should be declaring your defeat. Not trying to gloss it over with some bizarre talk of a draw.”
“No. I may have no way of winning, but that doesn't necessarily mean you will win. Have you forgotten? The election is fought not only by the Conservative Party, but by the Whig Party as well.”
I wondered what he was getting at, and it turned out to be the old "if I can't have it, I'll break it" strategy.
Sure enough, as I stood there listening silently, the anxious former Prime Minister started spilling his plans without me even asking.
“You don’t seem to understand. Then let me explain it slowly. Why do you think the House of Lords is remaining silent? Because Wellesley is so admirable and praiseworthy? No, it’s because they believe that as long as the Conservative Party wins, it doesn’t matter who comes out on top. But if Wellesley fails to secure a majority in the election, he will naturally be condemned by the House of Lords, and when he is pushed out, you will be pushed out with him, won’t you?”
“My, that sends shivers down my spine.”
“Do you think I lack the ability to make that happen? Have you forgotten that I still have over a hundred members of Parliament who follow me?”
Currently, the Conservative Party held 310 of the total 658 seats.
Wellesley’s faction and Robert Peel’s faction had been almost evenly split, but the successful vote of no confidence had given Wellesley a significant lead, widening the gap.
Still, a considerable number of members remained loyal to Robert Peel, and most of them were senior MPs who were at odds with Wellesley.
“To think so many members still follow you. You must be surprisingly well-liked, former Prime Minister.”
“Do you not grasp the gravity of the situation? If I so choose, I can run them all in contested constituencies against the Whigs and split the vote. Then, the ultimate winner will be the Whig Party, and you two will be branded as the chief culprits who ruined the Conservative Party along with me!”
“So you’re saying, let’s call it a draw if we don’t want to go down together.”
Threatening to upend the game board when you realize you can't win, all while trying to negotiate. It was a classic, common tactic.
“Yes. I’m not asking for much. First, guarantee the election of the MPs who follow me. And in the next government, create a position for me, even if it’s just an honorary one. If you do that much, I will admit defeat and quietly hand over the party leadership to Wellesley.”
“You want me to secure you an escape route for an honorable retirement, is that it?”
“Yes! You finally understand me. What do you say? I believe this is by no means a bad offer for you either.”
It certainly wasn't a bad offer. If he had come to me right after the no-confidence vote, grabbed me by the ankles, and made this proposal, I might have considered it with an open mind.
But to act so stiff-necked when he was already backed into a corner… wouldn’t that just make me want to snap that neck of his?
“Unfortunately, I believe I’ve given you plenty of time. Coming to me with this now doesn’t move me in the slightest.”
“…What? Have you eaten something strange? You can’t possibly think I won’t actually do it…”
“As a final courtesy, I’d advise you not to. You may have tried to check me by pushing me into a minister’s position, but in the end, it benefited me immensely. So I’m offering this advice in earnest.”
“…Trying to smooth things over with such words won’t…”
“In crude terms, you’re planning to wreck the game since you can’t win anyway. But what do you think will happen if Lord Wellesley wins even after you go that far?”
Robert Peel couldn’t say a word, merely biting his lip hard.
He couldn't be ignorant of the consequences. What was there to say?
He would be reviled as a historic traitor, a piece of trash who committed an act of betrayal against his own party by deliberately running candidates in contested seats just to siphon off votes and prevent his own side from winning.
“The House of Lords is a lifetime appointment, so you won’t lose your seat. But you’ll have to give up any thought of being on friendly terms with anyone in the Conservative Party until the day you retire, won’t you? Perhaps someone might even make it their mission to take you down for good, former Prime Minister. Must you really walk that path?”
“…That’s if I fail. But do you really think you can win if I go to such lengths?”
“Well, we would certainly suffer some losses. At most, we might lose about twenty seats to the Whigs.”
“What, twenty seats? It seems your brain has been paralyzed by baseless arrogance.”
He reacted with disbelief, but this was a loss I had calculated based on a rather cool-headed assessment.
In fact, that was the maximum estimate; the actual damage would likely be around fifteen seats.
To begin with, believing that having a hundred MPs following you means you can take away a hundred seats was the more absurd notion.
“Whose brain is paralyzed, I wonder. Unfortunately, your basic calculations are flawed from the start. You say a hundred MPs follow you? No, your core faction consists of ten to twenty members at most. The rest should be seen as mere branches attached to them.”
The senior Conservative members leading the charge against Wellesley, following Robert Peel's lead, numbered no more than twenty.
The remaining spots were filled by numerous first- and second-term MPs attached to them.
These core members were likely to share Robert Peel’s fate to the very end.
They had already gone too far to turn back, the rift with our side being too deep.
But what about the other MPs who had been swept along by the faction’s will?
Would they really throw everything away to remain loyal to a defeated general?
“The solidarity of the members who follow me is…”
“Like a sandcastle, I found. By any chance, do you know how many letters Lord Wellesley received this morning? It must have been about thirty. I don’t need to tell you what was written in them, do I?”
“Members from our side sent letters? Surely not…”
“That ‘surely not’ is a reality.”
They claimed their opposition to Wellesley was never their true intention, but was due to pressure from other MPs who told them to follow their lead if they wanted to get re-elected.
Therefore, they wished to join Wellesley’s faction from now on and contribute to setting the Conservative Party on the right path. They begged to be allowed to continue running for election in their current constituencies.
A stream of letters with such content had arrived.
Once Parliament was dissolved, the election process had to begin immediately, so we were also pressed for time to place new candidates in constituencies.
Thus, when people from the other side bowed their heads and begged for forgiveness, there was no reason not to accept them.
It wasn't just about increasing our own numbers; it also meant reducing the number of sacrificial pawns Robert Peel could deploy.
“Lies! They must be lies! This has to be a ploy, using false information to stop me from interfering!”
“Then believe that and proceed with what you were planning. I won’t stop you. But remember one thing. There’s a path to securing a seat by bowing to our side. Just how many people do you think will choose to be branded as traitors to the Conservative Party by staying on a sinking ship with you, former Prime Minister, instead of getting off?”
“……”
Robert Peel, who had been about to retort reflexively, fell silent and hung his head low.
No matter how hard he thought, he probably couldn’t come up with more than a dozen or so names.
That was the reality.
“Just lie low, as quiet as a mouse. If you do, I won’t take any further action against you, former Prime Minister.”
“…Is that really true?”
“Yes. I have too much on my plate to spare any attention for someone who has already left the stage.”
This was the complete truth, without a single percent of falsehood.
Even after the election, it would be a beginning, not an end. With so much to handle, why would I waste my energy on a loser?
However, it seemed our Queen held quite a grudge, and that was something I couldn't take responsibility for.
He could just go, get on his knees, and beg for all he was worth.
Who knows? Victoria might be moved by pity and, in a moment of generosity, decide to let it slide just once.
***
As the saying goes, being prepared leaves no room for worry.
For me, having completed all election preparations in advance, everything that unfolded after the dissolution of Parliament felt remarkably static.
At Robert Peel's request, Victoria dissolved Parliament, and the entire United Kingdom entered a general election period of about two months.
Judging that he had too many defectors, Robert Peel followed my advice and didn’t resort to a scorched-earth tactic, instead choosing to disappear. His faction completely disintegrated.
The Whig Party put forward a new face, Gladstone, and campaigned vigorously, but unfortunately, that alone was not enough to keep up with the issues our side was generating.
[Repeal Association Officially Dissolves!]
[Daniel O’Connell joins Charles Wellesley. “I have decided to entrust the future of Ireland to Minister Killian Gore. Judging that the greater cause lies with Charles Wellesley, who stands with him, I have decided to join the Conservative Party.”]
It wasn’t just Ireland; Scotland, greatly inspired by the Queen’s visit, also showed more favor toward the Conservative Party, to which I belonged. The Whig Party had no means to reverse this trend on its own.
Of course, the Whigs’ image had improved, and there were some defections from the Conservatives, so their number of seats was not expected to decrease significantly.
Receiving a report with these rough projections, Charles Wellesley let out an openly disappointed sigh.
“I was secretly hoping for a much bigger victory than the last election, but it seems that will be difficult.”
“It’s as we expected, isn’t it? What mattered was whether we could secure a majority or not.”
“But if we had won by a landslide, enough to completely suffocate the Whigs, Parliament would have been entirely our world. Should we strive for that in the next election?”
“Lord Wellesley. If you wish to remain in politics for a long time, it would be best to discard such thoughts.”
“Why? The Whigs will always be our political enemies. Wouldn’t neutralizing them solidify our position?”
If that’s how he felt, it was a warning sign that he was slowly getting drunk on the high of power.
It was a common trap for those who had just begun to grasp power, and Wellesley was no exception.
It seemed I needed to tighten the reins a bit here.
“They are political enemies. But if we eliminate all of them, what do you think will become of us? We will possess absolute power.”
“Isn’t that our party’s long-cherished wish? To oust all the Whigs and create an era of Tory dominance.”
“Lord Wellesley, before that, there is something you must remember. Once… no, perhaps this saying hasn’t emerged yet. In any case, if you are to be a politician, you must keep this in mind, so engrave it upon your heart. Power tends to corrupt. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. If you wish to go down in history as a corrupt ruler, then by all means, eliminate all your political enemies.”
“That is…”
“A capable political enemy is precious. As long as they exist, our side will remain united to confront them, and we won’t be able to act recklessly for fear of losing the citizens’ support.”
No matter how skilled a politician one is, it’s impossible to control every single one of several hundred MPs.
If that’s the case, one must at least make them mindful of something. There are only two ways to do that.
Make them fear the eyes of a dictator, or make them fear the eyes of the citizens.
It goes without saying which one is more beneficial to the nation in the long run.
“I’m not spouting some hypocritical nonsense about being a patriot who thinks only of the country and not of personal gain. If you truly wish to remain a respected politician for a long time, you must make it so that your personal interests align with the interests of the nation.”
“You mean I should pursue my own interests in a way that they also become the nation’s interests…”
“Precisely. Therefore, the Whig Party is perfect just as it is now. Strong enough as a major opposition party to keep us in check, but not powerful enough to form a government. Keep your political enemies close and use them as an alarm bell. If you just remember this, Lord Wellesley, you will be able to maintain your position as a respected Prime Minister.”
Without an enemy, allies will fracture.
The fact that senior Conservative members tried to tame Wellesley and me as soon as they judged the Whigs to be no great threat was proof of that.
If we completely crushed the Whig Party, there was no guarantee that our side wouldn't fracture next.
Whether it was Disraeli, Wellesley, or perhaps even me who might change.
Who was it that said it?
That maintaining power is far more difficult than acquiring it.
Perhaps that is why people who do not wish to let go of power fall into the temptation of dictatorship.
Crushing dissent with guns and swords seems easier and more convenient in the short term than continuously earning the citizens’ support to win re-election.
In the end, I, Wellesley, and the new Conservative Party had only just reached the starting line. There was still a long road ahead.
And so, after many twists and turns, the long-awaited day arrived: July 22, 1841.
With the dissolution of Robert Peel’s cabinet, the newly called general election concluded, and approximately 600,000 voters cast their ballots.
Conservative Party: 361 seats
Whig Party: 297 seats
Some breathed sighs of relief, clutching their chests, while others lamented their disappointment, but the result was clear.
The Conservative Party, having absorbed the Repeal Association, had left the Whigs far behind and successfully secured a majority on its own.
The time had come for the curtain to rise on a new era.