William Pitt the younger's “Illiberal whiggism” (1783-1789)

This paper is part of the authors’ research on the internal politics and parliamentary practice of the British Whigs of the late 17th - early 19th centuries and the process of evolution of Whig groups into the liberal Party. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that the authors for the first time in Russian historiography turned to identifying the stages of the evolution of British Whiggism. The relevance of this topic lies not only in the presence of a parliamentary institution and a liberal party in 21st century Britain, but also in the fact that the activities of the Whigs were productive and laid the foundations of modern parliamentary strategy and practice, such as addressing the public, fighting for the rights and freedoms of citizens. In addition, the flexible methods of parliamentary tactics employed by the Whigs remain relevant. The aspect of particular interest is work of William Pitt the Younger, who began his career as a Whig, but from 1783 he joined the Tories. However, the first 6 years of Pitt’s premiership showed that, as a Tory, he made extensive use of Whig slogans. According to the authors of the paper, Pitt skillfully used them to preserve his personal power.