British general election, 1784

The British general election of 1784 resulted in William Pitt the Younger securing an overall majority of about 120 in the British House of Commons, having previously had to survive in a House which was dominated by his opponents.

Background

In December 1783, George III engineered the dismissal of the Fox-North Coalition, which he hated, and appointed William Pitt the Younger as Prime Minister. Pitt had very little personal support in the House of Commons and the supporters of Charles James Fox and Lord North felt that the constitution of the country had been violated. The doctrine that the government must always have a majority in Parliament was not yet fully established and Fox knew he had to be careful.

On 2 February 1784 Fox carried a motion declaring "That it is the Opinion of this House, That the Continuance of the present Ministers in their Offices is an Obstacle to the Formation of such an Administration as may enjoy the Confidence of this House, and tend to put an End to the unfortunate Divisions and Distractions of the Country" by 223 to 204. Pitt remained in office, and government supporters ensured petitions and resolutions of borough corporations were presented to Parliament to encourage members to back Pitt, and slowly MPs converted.

By 1 March, Fox's motion which concluded by "beseech [ing] His Majesty, that He would be graciously pleased to lay the Foundation of a strong and stable Government, by the previous Removal of His present Ministers" was carried but only by 201 to 189. A week later, a more strongly worded motion threatening the withholding of supply was also passed – but only by 191 to 190. Fox thereafter declined to push motions, as his base continued to crumble. Pitt meanwhile decided to go to the country and on 24 March, Parliament was prorogued and on the following day the Parliament first elected in 1780 was dissolved.

Course of the election

The election was fought very much as a national campaign around the questions of the fall of the Fox-North government and whether or not Pitt should continue in office, rather than a series of local campaigns, which was more common for 18th century British elections.

Thanks to a combination of patronage and bribes paid by the HM Treasury, many small pocket boroughs returned Pitt-supporting MPs as widely expected. Additionally, in the constituencies decided by large electorates there was massive support for candidates who backed Pitt. Many of Fox's supporters were forced to either withdraw or make deals with their opponents to avoid election defeat. In the county constituencies only one Fox supporter was elected in a contest, though others returned due to local electoral pacts. Those MPs who had remained in opposition, refusing to go over to support Pitt, and who failed to return to the House of Commons as a consequence became known as "Fox's Martyrs" in reference to John Foxe's Book of Martyrs (although the majority were supporters of North).

The first day's polling, 30 March, saw 13 government supporters and four opponents returned. By the conclusion of the fifth day (3 April), there were already more than 150 government MPs and a lead of 50 over supporters of the coalition. The government achieved an overall majority on 15 April.

The election ended on 10 May.

Notable contests

The contests involving both Pitt and Fox attracted particular attention. Pitt had long wished to be a Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge and had failed to be elected when he stood for the seat in the 1780 general election. Now he was returned at the top of the poll and would hold the seat for the rest of his life.

Fox was one of the two sitting members for the constituency of Westminster, which had the largest electorate of any in the country and a great deal of prestige. His position there was central to his claim to be representing the people. He stood against two Pitt supporters for the constituency's two seats; both sides spent heavily, campaigned bitterly, allegedly libelled and slandered their opponents relentlessly and resorted to all kinds of tactics, including Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire touring the streets and kissing many voters to induce them to vote for Fox. Even George, Prince of Wales campaigned for Fox.

At the conclusion of polling on 17 May, Fox had narrowly succeeded with 6,233 votes to Sir Cecil Wray's 5,998. However Pitt's supporters then demanded a scrutiny of the votes and the Returning Officer therefore did not make the return. A scrutiny in a constituency as large as Westminster was an enormously time-consuming process; Fox, suspecting this may happen, had already arranged for his return for the Northern District of Burghs on (26 April) so that he would not be out of the House during it. The scrutiny did not show specially large numbers of illegal voters and eventually began to look like a political tactic; on 4 March 1785 the House of Commons finally put an end to it by ordering the Returning Officer to declare the result.

A London Constable Nicholas Casson was killed during the election.

ee also

* List of Parliaments of Great Britain
* MPs elected in the British general election, 1784

References

* "British Electoral Facts 1832-1999", compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000). (For dates of elections before 1832, see the footnote to Table 5.02).