The Privy Council ministry was a short-lived reorganization of English government that was reformed to place the ministry under the control of the Privy Council[1] in April 1679, due to events in that time.
Formation
It followed years of widespread discontent with the government, which had been consistently
William Temple, England's foremost diplomat and greatly respected both at home and abroad, was recalled at the beginning of 1679 and became the king's closest advisor. Elections to the House of Commons returned a majority for the opponents of the government, the Earl of Danby
was forced from office and Temple led the formation of a new ministry, aiming to reconcile the conflicting factions of the day.
Temple believed the king should not exercise absolute power but was also uncomfortable with the increasing prominence of Parliament.
Monmouth, was widely welcomed. However, Charles took against the scheme when Temple insisted on the inclusion of Viscount Halifax, whom he disliked personally. He agreed but insisted, to Temple's alarm, that the Earl of Shaftesbury
, the government's most vociferous critic, should also be included. This sabotaged Temple's council, ensuring irreconcilable division.
First meeting of the council, and its collapse
The new council met on 21 April. Within hours, it had been subverted as a group of nine conflicting members took a lead in the conduct of business; Temple reacted angrily, almost leaving the council, then consenting to form a group of four (with Halifax, Essex and Sunderland) to advise the king in secret.
Exclusion Bill, the king prorogued and then dissolved Parliament without the council's approval. Temple withdrew from active participation, leaving Halifax, Essex and Sunderland to exercise power as a Triumvirate, and a thirty-first councillor was appointed. When the king fell ill and his brother's return from the Dutch Republic caused alarm in the country, Temple expressed his concerns to the Triumvirate but was no longer taken seriously. Elections for the new Parliament returned another opposition majority, and the king prorogued it before it met, again in spite of the council.[4] Shaftesbury was discharged from office and other leading critics of the government resigned. Temple's experiment ended with the rise of Laurence Hyde, a strong supporter of the King, in November.[1]
