Lord Brougham was Lord Chancellor for the Whig Party from 1830 to 1834. Brougham's relationship with his party soured and his alienation from the Whigs became most apparent when he objected to Lord Durham's handling of the rebellion in Lower Canada. John Temple Leader was a radical MP for Westminster from 1837 to 1847 and a close associate of Brougham's. Both men criticised the government's handling of British North America and spoke in favour for self-governance in the Canada provinces. In his letter, Brougham argues that the 1840 Act of Union of Upper and Lower Canada was ‘effected without the consent of the people of either province having been obtained'.