On This Day

02 April 1783

King George III appoints the Duke of Portland as Prime Minister

The power behind the government came from an unlikely alliance between Whig Charles James Fox and Tory Lord North both of whom dominated the government as Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary. Portland was an acceptable figurehead to both factions and, as importantly, to King George III. Portland by all accounts got on well with Fox and North and was happy to be a figurehead and leader in the House of Lords. The government was short lived for although it commanded a majority in the House of Commons, King George was determined that it wouldn’t last long and he engineered its downfall in December of the same year after only 260 days in office.