A crowded polling station during an election in 1754
The Whig supremacy was a period of British political history from 1714 to 1760 which saw the Whigs become the dominant political party in Great Britain and the Tory Party die out as an active political force due to their association with the treacherous Jacobite rising of 1715.
The Whigs primarily garnered support from the middle and upper classes, including merchants, landowners, and professionals. They found significant backing in urban areas, especially in London and the eastern counties. They were also strong in Scotland, particularly among those opposing the Jacobite cause. Whig supporters often included merchants, bankers, and members of the legal profession, reflecting their interest in trade and commerce. The Whigs were generally aligned with Protestant dissenters, including Nonconformists and Presbyterians, who favored religious tolerance and were often critical of the Anglican establishment. London and the Home Counties offered strong support for Whigs due to urbanization, trade interests, and a concentration of dissenters. The Eastern Counties, like Norfolk and Suffolk, had wealthy merchants and a growing middle class that favored Whig policies. North West England, including the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, supported the Whigs due to industrialization and commerce led to Whig support. Scotland's Lowland Shires like Fife and Edinburgh saw urban centers and educated elites support Whig policies, especially among Presbyterians.
The Tories appealed more to the landed gentry and rural aristocracy, often comprising traditionalists and those with strong ties to the monarchy. They found support predominantly in rural areas, particularly in the southern and western counties of England, as well as parts of Wales. Tory supporters included landowners, farmers, and those within the Anglican Church, reflecting their conservative values and loyalty to the Crown. The Tories were closely associated with the Church of England, appealing to Anglicans and those who favored a strong monarchy and a state church. The Southern Counties, like Kent and Sussex, had strong ties to the landed gentry and Anglican Church and supported Tory values. The Western Counties, including Cornwall and Devon, had rural populations that were aligned with Tory landowners and traditionalism. Northern Counties like Yorkshire were mixed in their allegiances, but many rural areas leaned Tory, favoring conservative landowners. The Highland Shires (e.g., Inverness, Argyle) harbored strong loyalty to the monarchy, and traditional clan structures favored the Tories. The Central and Western Shires were home to rural populations who often aligned with Tory landowners and the Church of Scotland.
Background[]
The power struggle between the monarch and representatives of the general populace has long been a feature of British history. Efforts to curb the king's power were made in medieval times in the Magna Carta. The Tudors tipped the balance the other way by centralizing authority in the sovereign. The Stuarts took this philosophy to extremes, with James I subscribing to the divine right of kings. His son, Charles I, felt so strongly on the subject that he went to war with his Parliament. Charles enngaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue while the Parliament sought to curb his royal prerogative, which Charles believed was divinely ordained. After his execution in 1649, his son, Charles II, regained the throne, which was subsequently snatched away from his younger brother, James II. The real winner in the Glorious Revolution was not William III but Parliament, in co-operation with which he had agreed to rule. Similarly, the defeat of the Stuart pretender Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 was a victory not just for the Hanoverians but for the whole principle of constitutional monarchy.
History[]
After the Act of Union, the English and Scottish assemblies were dissolved to be replaced by a single British Parliament. The power of the Parliament increased - the Glorious Revolution reaffirmed the importance not only of Protestantism, but of Parliamentary democracy.
The rise of Walpole[]
Whig politician Robert Walpole was elected to his father's old Norfolk constituency in 1701 and quickly made his mark, being appointed Secretary of War in 1708. Surviving a politically inspired impeachment, he emerged as First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor from 1716. He came unscathed and (through no virtue of his own) emerged untainted through the South Sea Bubble crisis of 1720.
As the last man standing in a discredited administration, he assumed unchallenged pre-eminence as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor, and Leader of the House. Walpole was asked by King George I to sort out the crisis, which he did most effectively. In the decades that followed, he favored peace and prosperity over aggression, inaugurated a sinking fund to reduce the national debt, and helped secure the Hanoverian succession.
Whigs win out[]
Walpole' ascendancy was good news for the Whig party he led. The Whigs' whole purpose was the defense of constitutional rights, and this period saw a strengthening of the role of Parliament. The Tories were marginalized, with their respect for royal and aristocratic privilege out of favor. The Whig supremacy went on almost without a break until 1756. But the Whigs also generated their own internal opposition groups basedd around particular causes or personalities. Rapidly changing coalitions therefore meant that political power could change hands under the broader banner of Whig power.
The family firm[]
William Pitt the Elder was the leader of the "Patriot" Whigs. They disapproved of Walpole's non-interventionist line on a series of European conflicts. Coming to the fore during the Seven Years' War (1756-63), Pitt was arguably the real premier in Lord Newcastle's administration from 1758; he took over as Prime Minister in 1766, but was forced out of public life by ill-health.
William Pitt's son - William Pitt the Younger - was Britain's youngest prime minister ever. He was just 24 when he took office in 1783, and served for more than 17 years before resigning in 1801, but was back in power between 1804 and 1806. He tried to clean up public life and (in the aftermath of an expensive American war) sought to increase revenues through taxation. He also clamped down on smuggling, which was practically an industry at the time.
Aftermath[]
The opposition between Whigs and Tories was to become a foundation of the British political debate, establishing the parameters of parliamentary business for generations. The main point of debate was not the two-party system, but the number of voters who were to have a say in bringing the winning party to power. From the 1890s, the Labour Party threatened what workers had increasingly come to see as a cosy accommodation between different factions of the ruling class. The Whigs - now the Liberals - were marginalized thereafter.
Party constituencies[]
During the Whig supremacy, the Whigs held majorities in the more oligarchical boroughs where the franchise was held by corporation and burgage holders, while the Tories held majorities in more democratic boroughs where the franchise was held by households, freemen, and freeholders. The Whigs maintained their power and influence by controlling ore corrupt and more oligarchical boroughs, while the Tories were closer to the average voter in Britain, holding greater support in larger and more democratic boroughs. The Whigs were stronger in southeastern and northern counties, while the Tories were stronger in midland, Welsh, and southwestern counties; the Whigs were stronger in southeastern and northern boroughs and less elsewhere.
The Whigs' strength in the southeast came from their close ties to financial and mercantile interests in London, while a number of port and naval cities benefited from the Whigs' more aggressive stance on foreign policy. The Tories' greater strength in Wales and the West Midlands came from their conservative stances on foreign policy, and the prominence of the gentry in the West Midlands explained the strength of the Tories there; Wales and the West had previously been bastions of the Royalist cause during the English Civil War.
Differences in religion also caused variations in party strength, as the Tories were more strongly allied with the Church of England and the Whigs with dissenter religions (Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, and Quakers). The average size of the dissenting population across counties was just above 6%, with the southeastern and southwestern counties generally having higher dissenting populations than the Midlands, North, and Wales. Tory candidates were less appealing in counties with high dissenter populations because of their aggressive defense of the Church of England.
Under the Whig oligarchy, the Whigs were even stronger in boroughs and weaker in counties than they were during the "Rage of Party" from 1690-1715, and the Walpole Whigs were especially strong in boroughs with small electorates. Under Walpole, the Southwest went from being more Tory to more Whig, nearly on par with the Southwest. The North went from being more Whig to less Whig, while Wales went from being very Tory in the Rage of Party to being more mixed under Walpole. The Whigs were strongest in the Southeast and North, and weakest in the Southwest, the Midlands, and Wales. The Whigs increased their support in the Southeast from 55.5% to 55.8%, in the Southwest from 43.1% to 55.2%, in the East Midlands from 44.4% to 46.8%, and in Wales from 18.5% to 43.9%, while their support in the West Midlands fell from 37.4% to 32.5% and the North fell from 54.7% to 47%. Religious differences became less important during the Walpole era as the correlation between dissenting Protestants and Whiggery weakened.
 Whigs
|
 Tories
|
|---|---|
Policies:
Constituencies:
Geographic support, 1690-1715:
Geographic support, 1715-1740:
Constituency support:
|
Policies:
Constituencies:
Geographic support, 1715-1740:
Constituency support:
|
Average party strength by constituency, 1690-1740[]
| Constituency | Whig strength |
|---|---|
| Lyme Regis | 96.1% |
| Lymington | 90% |
| Heytesbury | 89.3% |
| Eye | 89.3% |
| Berwick-upon-Tweed | 87.9% |
| Plympton Erle | 87.8% |
| Bletchingley | 87.5% |
| Bere Alston | 87.1% |
| Kingston-upon-Hull | 85.7% |
| Wilton | 85.5% |
| Malton | 85.4% |
| Malmesbury | 84.8% |
| Hastings | 84.6% |
| Winchester | 83.5% |
| Seaford | 83% |
| King's Lynn | 82.1% |
| Tiverton | 82% |
| Lewes | 79.8% |
| New Windsor | 79.7% |
| Hampshire | 79.4% |
| Sandwich | 78.9% |
| Colchester | 78.8% |
| Castle Rising | 78.8% |
| Winchelsea | 77.8% |
| Whitchurch | 77.6% |
| Cockermouth | 77.2% |
| Northallerton | 76.7% |
| Andover | 75.8% |
| Arundel | 75.7% |
| Chipping Wycombe | 75.7% |
| Scarborough | 75.3% |
| Bristol | 75% |
| Tewkesbury | 74.9% |
| Poole | 74.8% |
| Carmarthenshire | 74.7% |
| Dover | 74.4% |
| Bedfordshire | 74% |
| Morpeth | 73.7% |
| Guildford | 73.7% |
| Horsham | 73.1% |
| Bishop's Castle | 72.6% |
| Rye | 71.9% |
| Much Wenlock | 71% |
| Westminster | 70.9% |
| Brackley | 70.5% |
| Wendover | 70.2% |
| New Shoreham | 69.7% |
| Bedford | 69.7% |
| Milborne Port | 69.2% |
| Thirsk | 69% |
| Liverpool | 69% |
| Plymouth | 68.2% |
| Tregony | 68.2% |
| Gloucestershire | 68% |
| Southwark | 67.8% |
| Cambridgeshire | 67.2% |
| Carlisle | 66.9% |
| Wareham | 66.8% |
| Newark | 66.7% |
| Queenborough | 66.7% |
| Bury St. Edmunds | 65.7% |
| Loswithiel | 65.5% |
| Richmond | 65% |
| Huntingdon | 64.4% |
| Sussex | 64.3% |
| Newport Lo. W | 63.9% |
| Devizes | 63.8% |
| Huntingdonshire | 63.1% |
| East Retford | 62.5% |
| Beverley | 61.8% |
| Truro | 61.7% |
| Gatton | 61.3% |
| New Romney | 61.2% |
| Weymouth/Melc. Regis | 61.1% |
| Downton | 60.8% |
| Aylesbury | 60.7% |
| Bramber | 60.7% |
| Grantham | 60.4% |
| Tavistock | 60.1% |
| Reading | 59.2% |
| Hythe | 59.1% |
| Bossiney | 58.9% |
| Bridport | 58.6% |
| Rochester | 58.4% |
| Mitchell | 58.2% |
| Cricklade | 57.7% |
| Cheshire | 57.6% |
| Norfolk | 57.1% |
| Northampton | 57% |
| Weobley | 57% |
| Buckingham | 56.7% |
| Coventry | 56.6% |
| Hedon | 56.6% |
| Monmouthshire | 56.5% |
| Grampound | 56.5% |
| Surrey | 56.4% |
| New Woodstock | 56.4% |
| Hertford | 55.9% |
| Bodmin | 55.4% |
| Nottingham | 55.2% |
| Stockbridge | 54.9% |
| Knaresborough | 54.9% |
| Buckinghamshire | 54.4% |
| Ashburton | 54.1% |
| Droitwich | 53.9% |
| Aldborough | 53.7% |
| York | 53.6% |
| Preston | 53.6% |
| Petersfield | 53.4% |
| Harwich | 53.2% |
| Evesham | 53.1% |
| Canterbury | 53.1% |
| Bridgwater | 52.9% |
| Lancaster | 52.8% |
| Salisbury | 52.7% |
| Taunton | 52.2% |
| Steyning | 52.2% |
| Portsmouth | 51.7% |
| Helston | 51.7% |
| Chippenham | 51.6% |
| Lancashire | 51.4% |
| Ipswich | 51.1% |
| Sudbury | 50.1% |
| Southampton | 50% |
| Cumberland | 50% |
| Worcester | 49.9% |
| Peterborough | 49.9% |
| Bath | 49.7% |
| Thetford | 49.6% |
| Cardiganshire | 49.6% |
| Pembrokeshire | 49.4% |
| Honiton | 48.8% |
| Boroughbridge | 48.7% |
| Great Marlowe | 48.6% |
| Maidstone | 48.6% |
| Yarmouth Lo. W | 48.2% |
| Yorkshire | 48% |
| Nottinghamshire | 47.9% |
| Gloucester | 47.9% |
| Westmorland | 47.8% |
| Wallingford | 47.7% |
| Pontefract | 47.7% |
| West Looe | 47.3% |
| St. Ives | 47% |
| Leominster | 46.6% |
| Calne | 46.4% |
| Dartmouth | 46.4% |
| Marlborough | 46.4% |
| Newton Lo. W | 45.5% |
| Pembroke Boroughs | 45.5% |
| Great Grimsby | 45.3% |
| Shaftesbury | 45% |
| Dunwich | 44.7% |
| Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 44.4% |
| Saltash | 44.2% |
| Clitheroe | 44.1% |
| Boston | 44% |
| New Radnor Boroughs | 43.7% |
| Chichester | 43.4% |
| Northumberland | 43% |
| Monmouth | 42.9% |
| Shropshire | 42.9% |
| Norwich | 42.9% |
| Brecon | 42.9% |
| Reigate | 42.5% |
| St. Albans | 42.3% |
| Merioneth | 42.1% |
| Essex | 41.6% |
| Bewdley | 41.3% |
| Cambridge University | 41.1% |
| Derby | 40.6% |
| Lincolnshire | 40.5% |
| Abingdon | 40.5% |
| Old Sarum | 39.8% |
| Middlesex | 39.2% |
| London | 39.2% |
| Ilchester | 38.8% |
| Wigan | 38.8% |
| Liskeard | 38.7% |
| Newport | 38.6% |
| Penryn | 38.6% |
| Higham Ferrers | 38.1% |
| Bridgnorth | 37.8% |
| Lichfield | 37.4% |
| Great Bedwyn | 37.3% |
| Leicester | 35.7% |
| East Grinstead | 35.6% |
| Rutland | 35.5% |
| Hereford | 35.4% |
| Tamworth | 35.3% |
| Appleby | 35.3% |
| Great Yarmouth | 34.5% |
| Ripon | 34.1% |
| Ludlow | 34.1% |
| Durham City | 34% |
| Camelford | 33.5% |
| East Looe | 33.4% |
| Hindon | 33.1% |
| Stafford | 33.1% |
| Kent | 32.6% |
| Midhurst | 32.3% |
| Carmarthen | 32.2% |
| Cambridge | 31.1% |
| Dorchester | 31.3% |
| St. Mawes | 30.9% |
| Haslemere | 30.8% |
| Leicestershire | 30.7% |
| Cardigan Boroughs | 30.5% |
| Maldon | 29.6% |
| Flint Boroughs | 29.4% |
| Worcestershire | 29.1% |
| Christchurch | 28.8% |
| Berkshire | 28.6% |
| Breconshire | 28.6% |
| Caernarvon Boroughs | 28.6% |
| Radnorshire | 28.6% |
| Minehead | 28% |
| Orford | 27.9% |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | 27.3% |
| County Durham | 27.3% |
| St. Germans | 27.2% |
| Caernarvonshire | 27.1% |
| Totnes | 25.4% |
| Montgomery Boroughs | 23.5% |
| Cornwall | 23.2% |
| Wootton Bassett | 23% |
| Corfe Castle | 22.4% |
| Cirencester | 21.9% |
| Suffolk | 21.4% |
| Northamptonshire | 21.4% |
| Wiltshire | 21.4% |
| Ludgershall | 20.8% |
| Hertfordshire | 20.6% |
| Cardiff Boroughs | 19.8% |
| Callington | 19.2% |
| Anglesey | 18.8% |
| Glamorgan | 18.4% |
| Barnstaple | 18.4% |
| Stamford | 18.3% |
| Exeter | 18.2% |
| Fowey | 18.1% |
| Derbyshire | 17.9% |
| Westbury | 16.9% |
| Aldeburgh | 16.2% |
| Shrewsbury | 15.5% |
| Newton | 14.8% |
| Lincoln | 14.7% |
| Flintshire | 14.5% |
| Banbury | 14.3% |
| Wells | 14.1% |
| Chester | 13.9% |
| Haverfordwest | 13.9% |
| Okehampton | 11.8% |
| Beaumaris | 11% |
| Launceston | 10.9% |
| Dorset | 10.7% |
| Warwick | 10.5% |
| Devon | 8.6% |
| Staffordshire | 8.4% |
| Oxford University | 7.5% |
| Oxfordshire | 7.5% |
| Somerset | 7.5% |
| Montgomeryshire | 7.1% |
| Amersham | 6.4% |
| Herefordshire | 6.1% |
| Warwickshire | 3.6% |
| Oxford | 2.8% |
| Denbigh Boroughs | .2% |
| Denbighshire | 0% |
Gallery[]
