George Canning

The Right Honourable George Canning (11 April 1770-8 August 1827) was a British politician who served as Foreign Secretary and, briefly, Prime Minister.

Prime Minister

Liverpool retired as Prime Minister in 1827 and Canning was chosen to succeed him, in preference to both the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel. Neither man agreed to serve under Canning and they were followed by five other members of Liverpool's Cabinet as well as forty junior members of the government. The Tory Party was now heavily split between the "High Tories" (or "Ultras", nicknamed after the contemporary party in France) and the moderates supporting Canning - often called 'Canningites'. As a result Canning found it hard to form a government and recoursed to inviting a number of Whigs to join his Cabinet, including Lord Lansdowne. The government agreed not to discuss the difficult question of parliamentary reform, which Canning was opposed to but the Whigs supported.

Related Topics:
1827 - Duke of Wellington - Robert Peel - France - Canningites - Lord Lansdowne

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

However Canning's health was already in decline and on August 8 1827 he died in the very room as Fox had done so, 21 years earlier. Canning holds the dubious record of having served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for the total shortest period - a mere 119 days. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Related Topics:
August 8 - 1827 - Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - Westminster Abbey

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~