Importation Act 1846

The Importation Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. 22), commonly known as the repeal of the Corn Laws, ended the tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported grain that had been enforced in the United Kingdom since 1815. Introduced under Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, the bill of repeal passed its third reading in the House of Commons on 15 May 1846 by 327 votes to 229, and the Duke of Wellington persuaded the House of Lords to pass it on 25 June 1846; it received royal assent the following day. The repeal split the Conservative Party and brought down Peel's government within days, but is credited by later economic research with benefiting the bottom 90 percent of income earners in the United Kingdom. It was itself repealed as spent legislation by the Statute Law Revision Act 1861. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/