The Conservative government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that began in 1858 and ended in 1859 was led by Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby in the House of Lords and Benjamin Disraeli in the House of Commons.

Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secretary of State for the Colonies from June 1858 to June 1859, choosing Richard Clement Moody as founder of British Columbia. A noted philhellene, Bulwer-Lytton was offered the Crown of Greece in 1862 after King Otto abdicated, but he declined. He was created Baron Lytton of Knebworth in 1866.