John Russell's departure was a wise move, because there were plenty of people who wanted him dead.
However, even after he had boarded a ship bound for Australia, that did not mean he would arrive in Sydney safe and sound. After all, storms, reefs, pirates, and all manner of accidents were common at sea in this era.
Another senior Whig was not so lucky. Palmerston was dismissed outright by Prince Albert, and his application to go to India as an adviser was rejected. He could only stay for the time being at his mistress's home in London.
Still, no one suggested taking revenge on this down-and-out Foreign Secretary. Palmerston was hardly a gentleman.
The fall of the Whig cabinet should have meant the Tories took over. However, the Tories' former leader, Robert Peel, had offended too many landed and traditional aristocrats over the Corn Laws, so the party put forward two new candidates.
Edward Smith-Stanley and George Hamilton-Gordon shared one trait: they were weak men, lacking leadership.
Edward Smith-Stanley was one of the few men in British history to serve as Prime Minister three times, but his three terms totaled only three years and 280 days.
The average British Prime Minister served for 3.86 years. In other words, Edward Smith-Stanley's three terms combined still fell short of the average.
As for George Hamilton-Gordon, most people barely remembered him. Even historians tended to associate him mainly with starting the Crimean War.
But many people did not know that George Hamilton-Gordon himself was against war, and even more firmly opposed starting the Crimean War. Yet as the weakest Prime Minister in British history, he had been dragged by his political enemy Palmerston into a war he detested, and ultimately fell from power because of it.
Of course, before taking office, both men