Early Political Career (1754-70)
On 15 April 1754, North was elected unopposed as the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Banbury, at the age of twenty two. He served as an MP from 1754 to 1790 and first joined the government as a junior Lord of the Treasury on 2 June 1759 during the Newcastle-Pitt coalition. He soon developed a reputation as a good administrator, parliamentarian and was generally liked by his colleagues. Although he initially considered himself a Whig, it became obvious to many contemporaries that his sympathies were largely Tory and he did not closely align with any of the Whig Factions in Parliament.
In November 1763 he was chosen to speak for the Government concerning the issue of John Wilkes, a member of parliament who many felt had made a libellous attack of both the Prime Minister and the King in an edition of his radical newspaper The North Briton. North's motion that Wilkes be expelled from the House of Commons passed by 273 votes to 111. Wilkes' expulsion took place in his absence, as he had already fled to France following a duel.
When a government headed by the Whig magnate Lord Rockingham came to power in 1765, North left his post and served for a time as a backbench MP. He turned down an offer by Rockingham to rejoin the government, largely out of fear with being associated with the wealthy Whig grandees that dominated the Ministry.
He came back once more when Pitt returned to head a second government in 1766. North was appointed Joint Paymaster of the Forces in Pitt's ministry and became a Privy Counsellor. As Pitt was constantly ill, the government was effectively run by the Duke of Grafton, with North as one of its most senior members.
Read more about this topic: Frederick North, Lord North
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