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Eighteenth Century British Prime Minister No.15

William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland
Prime Minister: 1783 (2 April – 18 December) – 260 days
Political faction: Whig
[Life: 14 April, 1738 – 30 October, 1809]

‘PM on the Pan’ Take Aways

• Figurehead for the Fox-North Coalition: Portland may have been called Prime Minister (the term was more common by this stage of the Eighteenth century), and his title of First Lord of the Treasury was the one most often associated with the PM post, but you should think of him as PM in name only. He was a figurehead and behind him were two big beasts (as we call them in the Twenty First century) and bitter rivals: Radical Whig and Foreign Secretary Charles James Fox (1749-1806) and Tory and Home Secretary Lord Frederick North (1732-1792). Portland found his name was proposed to George III by Fox and North. The King hated Fox and famously said of the coalition between with Lord North, it was “the most daring and unprincipled act.”
• What does Hearnshaw say: I always look forward to reading what Hearnshaw has to say about each PM…but in the Portland chapter it’s almost three whole pages before he actually mentions Portland’s name: “The eminent but negligible Duke of Portland was presented to the King as his First Lord of the Treasury.”……………and that’s it! Iain Dale got more than 30mins out of Portland in his excellent podcast episode of UK Prime Ministers (having said that, Portland did have a second term in office, lasting more than 2 years).
• Fifteenth British Prime Minister: He was 44 years old when he took office. He had two administrations as PM: 1783 (for 260 days) and 1807-1809 (but that’s Nineteenth century, so, poooo). That puts his first administration as third shortest among all Eighteenth century Prime Ministers, beaten by the Duke of Devonshire (226 days), and the Marquess of Rockingham (96 days – his second term as P{M, in which he died in office).
• He was shy: Portland was known as a shy and reticent man and not given to chit chat, though in his various government roles (eg. Lord Lieutenant of Ireland) he was known to be diligent and liked everything in order.
• Treaty of Paris (1783): The Portland premiership’s most important achievement was to conclude and sign the treaty, on 3 September 1783, ending the American Revolutionary War and recognising American independence.
• Portland exits the PM post: His days were numbered from the day he took office…King George III waited for an opportunity to kick them all out and that came along in the form of the East India Bill. He threatened those voting in favour of the bill that they would become enemies of the king. This had the effect he wanted, the coalition lost support, George demanded their resignations and invited the 23-year-old William Pitt the Younger to form an administration as Prime Minister.
• Second show: If you’re interested, Portland pops up for a second go at the PM gig. Don’t overlook this fella. He may have been a figurehead for the Fox-North Coalition, but he had an interesting career.

Notes
The Prime Ministers, Iain Dale (2020) (Portland article by Richard A Gaunt)
UK Govt Past Prime Ministers: Portland
British Prime Ministers of the 18th Century, FJC Hearnshaw (1928)
Duke of Portland episode of Iain Dale’s Presidents, Prime Ministers, Monarchs and Dictators podcast