Why did Pitt dominate politics 1783-93?

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Why did Pitt dominate politics between the years 1783-93?

In December 1783, when William Pitt was appointed Prime Minister, Britain had experienced the political instability of 4 collapsed governments in the space of 18 months, and was also experiencing many economic and social problems.  This meant that the young prime minister, at just 24 years old, was not expected to last past Christmas and was named ‘the mince pie ministry’ due to this, however he exceeded expectations and was prime minister all the way to 1801. Throughout these 18 years Pitt controlled the government and the House of Commons, making many improvements to Britain and showing his domination of politics. Pitt managed this due to his government’s political stability and support, his policies and the weaknesses of his opposition, the Whig Party.

William Pitt began in December 1783 after being appointed by King George III, he was not elected like usual and had a minority government. Having a minority government meant Pitt didn’t have much support or power from MP’s which he needed to be able to pass laws and legislation. William Pitt had to try and gain support and power however he could, he did this using his strengths and impressing people. Pitt had many strengths that gained him support, one of them was that many people remembered Pitt the Elder, William Pitt’s father, as a prime minister who led Britain to victory in the 7 years war and thought that Pitt would be similar and a strong leader. After losing against America in the American war of Independence voters and MP’s felt that Pitt would be able to lead Britain so it became great again and regain some of the power lost in the fight against the American’s. Pitt also built support outside parliament with the reputation as a reformer, and someone who put Britain before his and his party’s financial gain and power. The new Prime Minister was also known for his honesty and integrity, compared to his predecessors who had mainly just wanted to have power. Pitt also managed to delay a General election to gain support and make sure that he would get a majority government, he gained the support by impressing MPs and his strategy meant that he was able to reduce the opposition votes and strengthen his political campaign. The King supported Pitt, this was vital to the Prime ministers campaign. The King had influence over many MP’s and Lords as he appointed many of them, this meant that Pitt would gain the vote of those MP’s and Lords loyal to the King or the ‘Kings Friends’ as they were known. The King had power over government that meant when Pitt felt confident enough for an election, the King held a General Election. This happened in March 1784, when Pitt was sure he had enough voters for a majority government. This election was not expected as the parliament had only been going for 3 and a half years and the elections were usually held every 7 years, King George III argued that he could hold an election and that it wasn’t unconstitutional, there was no law saying he couldn’t. Pitt successfully achieved an overall majority in the March elections, having 315 supporters in contest with the opposition who only got 213, this meant that political stability existed once more in British politics, and Pitt could now tackle Britain’s other problems and create new policies to improve Britain.

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Pitt’s policies were a major part of gaining domination, he successfully increased support for himself and impressed people by showing them what he could do. His first major policy was the India Act in 1784. The act set up joint control of India with the East India Company, and set up of board of control in London so parliament could see what was going on. His reputation dramatically improved due to this as Pitt had tackled this problem quickly and efficiently and it had been going on for a long time, it had caught also out his predecessors and rivals, ...

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