William Pitt the Younger

The Right Honourable William Pitt, the Younger (28 May 1759–23 January 1806) was a British politician during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He served as Prime Minister from 1783 to 1801, and again from 1804 until his death. He is known as William Pitt the Younger to distinguish him from his father, William Pitt the Elder, who also served as Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Rise to power

The Fox-North Coalition fell in December 1783, after Fox introduced a bill to reform the British East India Company. The King was opposed to the bill; when it passed in the House of Commons, he secured its defeat in the House of Lords by threatening to regard anyone who voted for it as his enemy. Following the bill's failure in the Upper House, George III dismissed the coalition and entrusted the premiership to William Pitt. Pitt, at the age of twenty-four, became Great Britain's youngest Prime Minister ever, and was ridiculed for his youth. A popular ditty commented that it was "a sight to make all nations stand and stare: a kingdom trusted to a schoolboy's care." However, although it was widely predicted that the new administration would soon fall, it survived for seventeen years.

Related Topics:
1783 - British East India Company

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So as to reduce the power of the Opposition, Pitt offered Charles James Fox and his allies posts in the Cabinet; Pitt's refusal to include Lord North, however, thwarted his efforts. The new Government was immediately on the defensive, and was defeated on a Motion of No Confidence in January 1784. Pitt, however, took the unprecedented step of refusing to resign despite such a defeat. He retained the support of the King, who could not tolerate the Fox-North Coalition. He also received the support of the House of Lords, which passed supportive motions, as well as much support from the country at large, in the form of many petitions approving of his appointment (which influenced some local MPs to switch their support to Pitt) and he was accorded the Freedom of the City of London. Whilst returning from this ceremony the London mob chose to pull Pitt's coach home themselves as a sign of respect. When passing the Whig club the coach came under attack from a group of men who tried to assault Pitt. When news of this spread it was assumed that Fox and his associates had tried to bring down Pitt by any means. Pitt gained great popularity with the public at large as "Honest Billy" who was seen as a refreshing change from the dishonesty, corruption and lack of principles widely associated with both Fox and North.

Related Topics:
Motion of No Confidence - 1784 - House of Lords - City of London

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Despite a series of defeats in the House of Commons, Pitt defiantly remained in office, watching the Coalition's majority shrink as some Members of Parliament left the Opposition to join his side. The defectors, however, were not sufficiently numerous to give Pitt a majority. In March 1784, Parliament was dissolved, and a general election ensued. An electoral defeat for the Government was out of the question, for Pitt enjoyed the support of King George III. The aid of patronage and bribes paid by the Treasury were normally expected to be enough to secure the Government a comfortable majority in the House of Commons but on this occasion the government reaped much popular support as well. In most popular constituencies the election was fought between clear candidates representing Pitt or Fox/North. Early returns showed a massive swing to Pitt, with the result that many opposing MPs either defected, stood down or made deals with their opponents to avoid expensive defeats. A notable exception came in Fox's own constituency of Westminster, which had one of the largest electorates in the country. In a contest estimated to have cost a quarter of the total spending in the entire country, Fox bitterly fought against two Pittite candidates to secure one of the two seats for the constituency, with every possible campaigning method tried. When polling finished massive legal wranglings ensued, involving the examination of every single vote cast, which dragged on for more than a year. In the meantime Fox sat for the pocket borough of Orkney but many saw the dragging out of the result as excessive vindictiveness on the part of Pitt and eventually the examinations were abandoned, with Fox declared elected. Elsewhere Pitt won a massive personal triumph when he was successfully elected a Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge, a constituency he had long coveted and which he would continue to represent for the remainder of his life.

Related Topics:
General election - Patronage - Westminster - Orkney - Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge

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