Episode 1 of 2
Resignation Announcement
- When
- 7 May 1839
- Where
- House of Commons
Lord Melbourne announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister after a government bill passed by a narrow margin of five votes in the House of Commons.
The crisis began when the 2nd Viscount Melbourne, a leading Whig politician, declared his intention to resign following a very narrow parliamentary vote. This event triggered the constitutional crisis involving Queen Victoria's first change of government.
Sources
- Bedchamber crisis Wikipedia, revision of 2026-02-20
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.