 Initially groomed as Macdonald's successor, Tupper had a falling out with Macdonald, and by the early 1880s, he asked Macdonald to appoint him as Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.Tupper took up his post in London in 1883, and would remain High Commissioner until 1895, although in 1887–88, he served as Minister of Finance without relinquishing the High Commissionership.In 1895, the government of Sir Mackenzie Bowell floundered over the Manitoba Schools Question; as a result, several leading members of the Conservative Party of Canada demanded the return of Tupper to serve as prime minister.