Peel, unwilling to risk the consequences of…

Peel, unwilling to risk the consequences of denying a seat in the Commons to O'Connell, with O’Connell's Irish supporters breathing down the Tory's necks, breaks with extremists in the party and joins with Wellington, his longtime ally, to push the Catholic Emancipation Act through Parliament, though he had until now been one of its most outspoken opponents.

Peel feels compelled to resign his seat at Oxford, as he had stood on a platform of opposition to Catholic Emancipation (in 1815 he had, in fact, challenged to a duel O'Connell, the man most associated with emancipation).

He instead moves to another rotten borough, Westbury, retaining his Cabinet position.