Following his vote against the government’s East Retford Bill – a minor measure to extend the electorate of a highly corrupt pocket borough rather than closing the seat and allocating it to one of the large provincial towns (and thereby implicitly conceding the need for reform), William Huskisson (1770-1830) tendered his resignation as secretary of state for the colonies. Arthur Wellesley, duke of Wellington, then prime minister, accepted it, much to Huskisson’s surprise and disappointment. Huskisson had held office in various capacities for the previous fourteen years.

See DNB; The Times, 27 May 1828 and Boyd Hilton, A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People: England 1783-1846 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 385-6.