Editing William Pitt the Younger (section)

=== Rise to power ===
<!-- linked from redirects [[First premiership of William Pitt the Younger]], [[First prime ministership of William Pitt the Younger]] -->
{{Further|First Pitt ministry}}<!-- [[WP:NOTBROKEN]] -->
{{Infobox administration
| name = First premiership of Pitt the Younger
| image = [[File:William Pitt the Younger.jpg|William_Pitt_the_Younger]]
| term_start = 19 December 1783
| term_end = 14 March 1801
| premier = <!-- William Pitt the Younger -->
| premier_link = Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
| cabinet = [[First Pitt ministry]]
| party = [[Tories (British political party)|Tory]]
| election = <!-- N/A -->
| monarch = [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]]
| seat = [[10 Downing Street]]
| predecessor = [[Premiership of the Duke of Portland|Duke of Portland]]
| successor = [[Premiership of Henry Addington|Henry Addington]]
}}

The Fox–North Coalition fell in December 1783, after Fox had introduced [[Edmund Burke]]'s bill to reform the [[East India Company]] to gain the patronage he so greatly lacked while the king refused to support him. Fox stated the bill was necessary to save the company from bankruptcy. Pitt responded that: "Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."{{sfn|Hague|2005|p=140}} 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 government and finally entrusted the premiership to William Pitt, after having offered the position to him three times previously.{{sfn|Hague|2005|p=146}}

==== Appointment ====
A constitutional crisis arose when the king dismissed the Fox–North coalition government and named Pitt to replace it. Though faced with a hostile majority in Parliament, Pitt was able to solidify his position within a few months. Some historians argue that his success was inevitable given the decisive importance of monarchical power; others argue that the king gambled on Pitt and that both would have failed but for a run of good fortune.<ref>Paul Kelly, "British Politics, 1783-4: The Emergence and Triumph of the Younger Pitt's Administration", ''Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research'' Vol. 54 Issue 129, pp 62–78</ref>

Pitt, at the age of 24, became Great Britain's youngest prime minister ever. The contemporary satire ''[[The Rolliad]]'' ridiculed him for his youth:{{sfn|Short|1785|p=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t1hh6g811;view=1up;seq=65 61]}}

{{poemquote|Above the rest, majestically great,
Behold the infant Atlas of the state,
The matchless miracle of modern days,
In whom Britannia to the world displays
A sight to make surrounding nations stare;
A kingdom trusted to a school-boy's care.}}

Many saw Pitt as a stop-gap appointment until some more senior statesman took on the role. However, although it was widely predicted that the new "mince-pie administration" would not outlast the Christmas season,<ref>{{Cite ODNB |quote=The name "mince-pie administration" was created by [[Frances Anne Crewe]], Lady Crewe, a Whig political hostess. |last=Kilburn |first=Matthew |title=Mince-pie administration (act. 1783–1784) |date=24 May 2008 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/95200 |doi-access=free}} citing {{harv |Ehrman |1969 |p=133}}</ref> it survived for seventeen years.{{sfn|Hague|2005|p=152}}

So as to reduce the power of the [[Political opposition|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 in January 1784 was defeated on a [[motion of no confidence]]. Pitt, however, took the unprecedented step of refusing to resign, despite this defeat. He retained the support of the king, who would not entrust the reins of power to the Fox–North Coalition. He also received the support of the House of Lords, which passed supportive motions, and many messages of support from the country at large, in the form of petitions approving of his appointment which influenced some [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members]] to switch their support to Pitt. At the same time, he was granted the Freedom of the [[City of London]]. When he returned from the ceremony to mark this, men of the City pulled Pitt's coach home themselves, as a sign of respect. When passing a 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 Fox and his associates had tried to bring down Pitt by any means.{{sfn|Hague|2005|p=166}}

==== Electoral victory ====
[[File:George-Romney-xx-William-Pitt-the-Younger-xx-Tate-Britain.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|William Pitt in 1783, by [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]]]]
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. 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 abstain.{{sfn|Hague|2005|p=166}}

In March 1784, Parliament was dissolved, and a [[1784 British general election|general election]] ensued. An electoral defeat for the government was out of the question because Pitt enjoyed the support of King [[George III]]. [[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.{{sfn|Hague|2005|p=173}} In most popular constituencies, the election was fought between candidates clearly representing either Pitt or Fox and North. Early returns showed a massive swing to Pitt with the result that many Opposition Members who still had not faced election either defected, stood down, or made deals with their opponents to avoid expensive defeats.{{sfn|Hague|2005|p=170}}

A notable exception came in Fox's own constituency of [[Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)|Westminster]], which contained 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. Great legal wranglings ensued, including the examination of every single vote cast, which dragged on for more than a year. Meanwhile, Fox sat for the Scottish pocket borough of [[Tain Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)|Tain Burghs]]. Many saw the dragging out of the result as being unduly vindictive on the part of Pitt and eventually the examinations were abandoned with Fox declared elected. Elsewhere, Pitt won a personal triumph when he was elected a [[Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)|Member for the University of Cambridge]], a constituency he had long coveted and which he would continue to represent for the remainder of his life.{{sfn|Hague|2005|p=170}} Pitt's new constituency suited him perfectly as he was able to act independently. Sir James Lowther's pocket borough of Appleby, which had been Pitt's previous constituency, had strings attached. Now Pitt could really be the 'independent Whig' he identified as. <ref>Alter 'Pitt' Volume 1 (2024) ''pp''51-2</ref>