Son of the famous prime minister who he succeeded as MP for Tamworth in 1850, Peel’s erratic political career lasted over three decades. A political maverick, Peel’s wayward party allegiance and ‘devil-may-care’ attitude led many to consider him ‘half-insane’. A powerful orator, Peel used sarcasm and wit to devastating effect in his speeches. His stormy spell as Irish chief secretary in Palmerston’s government in the 1860s led one colleague to complain of his ‘utter want of judgment’.