Robert Peel

Peel's 1841 cabinet was one of the most talented of the century, including the young Gladstone at the Board of Trade, and it reintroduced income tax and reformed banking. But he governed by persuading his cabinet rather than his backbenchers, and when he moved to repeal the Corn Laws in 1845, Lord Stanley resigned from the cabinet and Disraeli led the backbench revolt. The cabinet split followed the party split. The Peelites who stayed loyal later formed the core of Gladstone's Liberals.