While it had been acceptable prior to the turn of the 20th century for Canadian governors general to involve themselves in political affairs , being , as they were , representatives of the King in his British Council , Byng 's tenure as viceroy of Canada was notable in that he became the first to step directly into political matters since the country had gained a degree of autonomy in the British Empire following the First World War : in the summer of 1926 he denied the recommendation of his prime minister , William Lyon Mackenzie King , who sought to have parliament dissolved in order to avoid a vote of non-confidence in his government . The Governor General 's course of action in what came to be colloquially known as the '' King – Byng Affair '' remains debated , though the consensus amongst constitutional historians is that Byng 's moves were appropriate under the circumstances . Mackenzie King , however , made much of the scenario and its outcome in the election that eventually followed on 14 September , in which King 's Liberal Party won a plurality of seats in the House of Commons , while Meighen lost his seat . As a result , King was once again appointed prime minister . At the 1926 Imperial Conference , King then went on to use Byng and his refusal to follow his prime minister 's advice as the impetus for widespread constitutional change throughout the British Commonwealth . Byng himself said of the matter : " I have to await the verdict of history to prove my having adopted a wrong course , and this I do with an easy conscience that , right or wrong , I have acted in the interests of Canada and implicated no one else in my decision . " Byng returned to England on 30 September 1926 , and in January 1928 was created Viscount Byng of Vimy , of Thorpe-le-Soken in the County of Essex . Later that year , he was appointed as the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and , before his retirement in 1931 , introduced a number of changes to the force , including a system of promotion based on merit rather than length of service , improvement in discipline , retirement of inefficient senior officers , an irregularity to policemen 's beats ( which had previously allowed criminals to work out the system ) , police boxes , the extensive use of police cars , and a central radio control room . In July 1932 , Byng was once more promoted in the British military to the rank of field marshal — the highest rank an officer can attain — before he died suddenly of an abdominal blockage at Thorpe Hall on 6 June 1935
1926 Imperial Conference
1926 Imperial Conference
Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy