Robert Walpole

The Rt. Hon. Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, GCB, (26 August 1676–18 March 1745), nickname "Cock Robin," was a British Whig statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. The position of Prime Minister had no official recognition in law, but Walpole is nevertheless acknowledged as having held the de facto office due to the extent of his influence in the Cabinet.

Stanhope/Sunderland Ministry

Queen Anne died in 1714, to be succeeded by a distant German cousin, George I, under the Act of Settlement 1701. George I distrusted the Tories, whom he believed opposed his right to succeed to the Throne. (The Act of Settlement had excluded several senior relatives of Anne on the grounds of their adherence to Roman Catholicism.) Thus, 1714, the year of George's accession, marked the ascendancy of the Whigs, who would remain in power for the next fifty years. Robert Walpole became a Privy Counsellor and rose to the position of Paymaster of the Forces in a Cabinet nominally led by Lord Halifax, but actually dominated by Lord Townshend (Walpole's brother-in-law) and James Stanhope. Walpole was also appointed chairman of a secret committee formed to investigate the actions of the previous Tory ministry. The individuals who had brought about Walpole's impeachment in 1712 were now themselves attacked for purely political reasons: Lord Oxford was impeached, and Lord Bolingbroke suffered from an act of attainder.

Related Topics:
1714 - George I - Act of Settlement 1701 - Roman Catholicism - Privy Counsellor - Paymaster of the Forces - Lord Halifax - James Stanhope - Act of attainder

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Lord Halifax, the titular head of the administration, died in 1715. Walpole, recognised as an assiduous politician, was immediately promoted to the important posts of First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer; in this position, he introduced the sinking fund, a device to reduce the national debt. The Cabinet of which he was a member was often divided over most important issues; normally, Walpole and Lord Townshend were on one side, with Stanhope and Lord Sunderland on the other. Foreign policy was the primary issue of contention, for Walpole and Townshend believed that George I was conducting foreign affairs with the interests of his German territories—rather than those of Great Britain—at heart. The Stanhope-Sunderland faction, however, had the King's support. In 1716, Townshend was removed from the important post of Northern Secretary and put in the lesser office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Even this change did not appease Stanhope and Sunderland, who secured the dismissal of Townshend from the Lord-Lieutenancy in April 1717. On the next day, Walpole resigned from the Cabinet to join Townshend in the Opposition. In the new Cabinet, Sunderland and Stanhope (who was created an Earl) were the effective heads.

Related Topics:
1715 - First Lord of the Treasury - Chancellor of the Exchequer - Sinking fund - 1716 - Northern Secretary - Lord Lieutenant of Ireland - 1717

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Soon after Walpole's resignation, a bitter family quarrel between the King and the Prince of Wales split the Royal Family. Walpole and others who opposed the Government often congregated at Leicester House, the home of the Prince of Wales, to form political plans. Walpole also became a close friend of the Prince of Wales's wife, Caroline. In 1720, he improved his position by bringing about a reconciliation between the Prince of Wales and the King.

Related Topics:
Prince of Wales - Leicester House - Caroline - 1720

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Walpole continued to be an influential figure in the House of Commons; he was especially active in opposing one of the Government's more significant proposals, the Peerage Bill, which would have limited the power of the monarch to create new peerages. Walpole brought about a temporary abandonment of the bill in 1719, and the outright rejection of the bill by the House of Commons in the next year. This defeat led Lord Stanhope and Lord Sunderland to reconcile with their opponents; Walpole returned to the Cabinet as Paymaster of the Forces, and Townshend was appointed Lord President of the Council. By returning to the Cabinet, however, he lost the favour of the Prince of Wales (the future King George II), who still harboured disdain for his father's Government.

Related Topics:
Peerage Bill - Peerage - 1719 - Lord President of the Council

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