Wilkes expelled from Parliament

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Domains

Politics

Dates

Date of occurrence 1769-02-04

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

Resources

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Wilkes was expelled from parliament on February 3rd, 1769 because of his unspent convictions in 1764. Thirteen days later he was re-elected, largey through the support by the Society of Gentleman Supporters of the Bill of Rights, founded by Horne Tooke. Nevertheless, Wilkes was deemed by the House of Commons to be incapable of election because he had been expelled. A new election was called; Wilkes was re-elected on 16th March. Refused entry again, he was re-elected again on 13th April, but this time the ministry put up a rival candidate, Colonel Henry Luttrell, and protected him with soldiers. Although Luttrell was clearly beaten by 1143 votes for Wilkes to his paltry 296 votes, the House of Commons ruled in May that Wilkes was ineligible and that Luttrell had therefore been fairly…

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143 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Wilkes expelled from Parliament". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 March 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=12919, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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