Pope was in Britain during the London Conference (on the question of Confederation) of 1867, and persuaded delegates to agree to $800,000 being allocated by the federal treasury to buy proprietary lands on PEI so that they could be distributed to tenants. This was seen as bribery on the island, however, and divided the Tories, leading to their defeat in the 1867 election at the hands of the Liberals, who were more hostile to confederation. The Tories were also hurt by their reputation as being pro-landlord: the Tenant League campaigned to defeat the Pope government.