Derby Dilly

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The Derby Dilly was a group of dissident Whigs who split from the main party in 1834 over how to reorganize the Church of Ireland. Led by Edward, Lord Stanley, they resigned from Prime Minister Lord Grey’s cabinet because they feared reform would go too far, especially toward their Irish opponents led by Daniel O’Connell. They were also called the Stanleyites.

The name Derby Dilly comes from Stanley’s title, Earl of Derby, and a joke about an unruly coach. At first they stayed in the government as Moderates, but they soon lost their clear political footing. They were nicknamed the Derby Dilly after opponents pictured their group as a coach out of control. Stanley was known for sharp debate but struggled to keep his followers united.

In December 1834, Stanley spoke at Glasgow University in what was called the "Knowsley Creed." He argued for keeping the established church’s role and opposing destructive reform, while accepting that the Reform Act 1832 could not be fully reversed. Three days earlier, Sir Robert Peel had issued the Tamworth Manifesto for the Conservatives, which also supported reform to fix abuses but rejected old Tory resistance to change. Because of this, the Derby Dilly and the Conservative position often lined up as two sides of the same coin.

The 1835 general election saw the Derby Dilly make limited new recruits. Stanley claimed some 86 supporters in January 1835, calling them a reserve force, but by March only about 30–40 remained able to vote the same way. Stanley began leaning toward the Conservatives.

The Lichfield House Compact, in which Whigs, Irish Repealers, and Radicals agreed to vote out Peel, left the Derby Dilly with little option but to side with Peel. Peel resigned in 1835, and Melbourne and the Whigs formed a new government.

There was even talk of a combined Liberal-Conservative party, but that never happened. Between 1835 and 1841, many MPs switched from the old reform coalition to the Conservatives.

By 1837, Stanley and some allies were clearly moving into the Conservative camp. He and Sir James Graham joined Peel’s side and sat on the Opposition Front Bench, and Stanley joined the Carlton Club, a Conservative club. The remaining Derby Dilly MPs were absorbed into the Conservative Party, including Lord George Bentinck, who later worked with Disraeli in the 1840s.

Although they started as Whigs, Stanley, Bentinck, and Disraeli helped push a new Conservative Party by taking much of Peel’s former supporters with them.