Editing John Frost (Chartist) (section)

== Political career ==
In 1821, Frost became embroiled in a dispute with a Newport solicitor, [[Thomas Prothero]], who was also [[Town Clerk]], over his uncle's [[Will (law)|will]]. In a letter Frost accused Prothero of being responsible for the former's exclusion from the will. Prothero sued for libel and Frost was ordered to pay £1,000. Frost then accused Prothero of malpractice. Again, Prothero sued for libel and again won. In February 1823, Frost was imprisoned for six months and told in no uncertain terms that further accusations against Prothero would lead to a longer sentence.

After his release Frost turned his anger against Prothero's friends and business partners, notably [[Charles Morgan, 1st Baron Tredegar|Sir Charles Morgan]] of [[Tredegar House|Tredegar House and Park]], a major Newport and [[south Wales]] landowner and industrialist. In a pamphlet of 1830, he accused Morgan of [[slumlord|mistreating]] his many tenants and advocated electoral reform as a means of bringing Morgan and others like him to account. An appreciation both of Frost's literary skill and his mounting exasperation can be gained from his letters, to Sir Charles Morgan himself amongst others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newportpast.com/nfs/strands/frost/letter2.htm|title=Newport Past – Strands – Letter to Sir Charles Morgan, Bart., Rowley Lascelles, William Phillips, Charles Morgan and others from John Frost|website=newportpast.com}}</ref> In the early 1830s Frost increasingly became a champion of [[universal suffrage]].

Establishing himself as a prominent Chartist, he was elected in 1835 as a town [[councillor]] for Newport and appointed as a [[magistrate]]. He also became an Improvement Commissioner and [[Poor Law]] Guardian and the following year became [[Mayor of Newport]]. His aggressive behaviour and election as a delegate to the Chartist Convention in 1838 antagonised his old enemies. He was defeated in the mayoral election the following year<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru|publisher=University of Wales Press|volume=12|title=The Great Hero of the Newport Rising|year=2003|page=497}}</ref> and the [[Home Secretary]] also revoked his appointment as magistrate.