I Wonder Why This Number Is Rising So...
Politics1 min ago
Is Tony Blair the youngest Prime Minister
00:00 Mon 12th Nov 2001 | People & Places
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A.� No. That honour falls upon William Pitt the Younger (pictured below and on our home page).< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
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Q.� Who he
A.� Son of William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham and a great statesman. (More about him at a later date.) Young William was born at Hayes, Kent, on 28 May, 1759. He was a sickly child and educated at home. His father was determined that his son would go into politics and he gave him lessons in oration. He went to university, aged 14, at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge.
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Q.� And he grew to love politics
A.� Yes. He spent much of his spare time watching parliamentary debates. On 7 April, 1778, he watched in horror as his father collapsed while making a speech in the House of Lords and helped carry the dying statesman from the chamber. In 1781, young Pitt became MP for Appleby. He made his first speech in the Commons on 26 February. Afterwards, Lord North, the prime minister, described it as the best speech he had ever heard.
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Q.� Did young Pitt achieve much
A.� Pitt joined Charles Fox, a leading Whig, in campaigning for peace with the American colonies. Pitt also took an interest in the way that Britain elected MPs and believed parliamentary reform was necessary for the preservation of liberty. In 1782, Lord Sherburne, the new prime minister, appointed the 23-year-old Pitt as his Chancellor of the Exchequer - causing a huge fall-out with his old friend Fox. He resigned from the post the next year and concentrated on more reforms, including the prevention of bribery at elections; corrupt constituencies; and increasing the number of MPs London.
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Q.� So how did he become PM
A.� The Duke of Portland's administration resigned and on 19 December, 1783, and the king invited 24-year-old Pitt to form a new government. The news was received in the Commons with derisive laughter.
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Q.� So things got difficult
A.� Yes. Pitt had great difficulty finding people to join his government. He was the only MP in his cabinet of seven. Charles Fox led many attacks on Pitt, and although defeated in votes several times, Pitt refused to resign. After building up his popularity in the country, Pitt called a general election on 24 March, 1784 - and defeated 160 of Fox's supporters at the polls. Pitt then went on with his reforms, including the reduction of excise duties to cut smuggling. A later attempt to wipe out the so-called rotten boroughs failed, however, and Pitt resolved to leave parliamentary reform well alone.
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Q.� So that tarnished his reputation as a reformer
A.� Yes - made worse when France declared war on Britain in February, 1793. Pitt soon suspended Habeas Corpus - the right not to be thrown in jail without legal proceedings - and anybody advocating parliamentary reform was arrested and charged with sedition. Tom Paine (click here for a feature on him) managed to escape but others such as John Thellwall, Thomas Hardy and Thomas Muir were imprisoned. Then Pitt started to raise taxation to pay for the war; the economic climate was made worse by a series of poor harvests. Things got so bad that when George III was on his way to open parliament in October, 1795, he was greeted with cries of 'Bread', 'Peace' and 'no Pitt'. Pitt immediately decided to pass a new Sedition Bill that redefined the law of treason.
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Q.� So the unpopularity increased
A.� Yes - more taxes followed, including duties on horses, tobacco, tea, sugar and spirits. Even so, by November 1797, Britain had a budget deficit of �22 million. Pitt's health began to deteriorate and newspapers began reporting that the he had suffered a mental breakdown. Pitt responded by suppressing newspapers.
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Q.� I foresee a downfall coming here...
A.� Yes and no. Pitt resigned after a row with the King over his policy in Ireland. He had favoured Catholic emancipation. The King did not. Henry Addington briefly became PM - then resigned in 1804 and Pitt took office once again.
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Q.� Then what
A.� These were troubled times. Napoleon was planning to invade England, so Pitt quickly formed a new coalition with Russia, Austria and Sweden. When the French were defeated at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October, 1805, Pitt was hailed as the saviour of Europe. However, Napoleon fought back and in December, 1805, he beat the Russians and Austrians at Austerlitz.
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Q.� A shock for Pitt
A.� And a deadly one. Pitt was devastated was taken seriously ill. He died on 16 January, 1806.
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By Steve Cunningham
