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Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014

The rise of political parties and a parliamentary monarchy

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 2

Overview

The first Whigs and Tories and what divided them, Whig dominance under George I, the growing influence of ministers, Walpole as the first Prime Minister, parliamentary monarchy, patronage, rotten boroughs, the narrow franchise and the powers the monarch kept.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

How did Britain's system of government and elections work in the eighteenth century?

Key term

What were the two groupings called that grew into England’s first political parties?

Key term

Why did one party dominate government after George I came to the throne in 1714?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What were the two groupings called that grew into England’s first political parties?

    Model answer

    Whigs and Tories, names first thrown as insults during the quarrel over whether a Catholic could be excluded from the succession.

  2. 2

    What did Whigs and Tories originally disagree about?

    Model answer

    The privileges of the Church of England and the powers of the crown, and whether the hereditary succession could lawfully be set aside.

  3. 3

    Why did one party dominate government after George I came to the throne in 1714?

    Model answer

    Many Tories were suspected of sympathy for the exiled Stuarts, so the new king gave office almost entirely to Whigs.

  4. 4

    How did George I’s style of ruling increase the influence of his ministers?

    Model answer

    He spoke little English and left much routine business to them, so the cabinet grew used to meeting and deciding without the king in the room.

  5. 5

    Who is usually regarded as the first Prime Minister, and why?

    Model answer

    Sir Robert Walpole, who from 1721 led the government for over twenty years by keeping both a Commons majority and the king’s confidence.

  6. 6

    What is meant by a parliamentary monarchy?

    Model answer

    One in which the monarch still reigns but can only govern through ministers who are able to command support in Parliament.

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Whigs means party given almost every office by George I after 1714.
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