William Pitt the Younger in the context of "William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham"

A political cartoon, also known as an editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine artistic skill, hyperbole and satire in order to either question authority or draw attention to corruption, political violence and other social ills.

Developed in England in the latter part of the 18th century, the political cartoon was pioneered by James Gillray, although his and others in the flourishing English industry were sold as individual prints in print shops. Founded in 1841, the British periodical Punch appropriated the term cartoon to refer to its political cartoons, which led to the term's widespread use.

A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization.

Thomas Rowlandson (/ˈroʊləndsən/; 13 July 1757 – 21 April 1827) was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation. A prolific artist and printmaker, Rowlandson produced both individual social and political satires, as well as a large number of illustrations for novels, humorous books, and topographical works. Like other caricaturists of his age such as James Gillray, his caricatures are often robust or bawdy. His caricatures included those of people in power such as the Duchess of Devonshire, William Pitt the Younger and Napoleon Bonaparte. Rowlandson also produced erotica for a private clientele; this was never published publicly at the time and is now only found in a small number of collections.

The Plumb-pudding in danger, or, State Epicures taking un Petit Souper is an 1805 editorial cartoon by the English artist James Gillray. The popular print depicts caricatures of the British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger and the newly-crowned Emperor of France Napoleon, both wearing military uniforms, carving up a terrestrial globe into spheres of influence. It was published as a hand-coloured print and has been described by the National Portrait Gallery as "probably Gillray's most famous print" and by the British Library as "one of Gillray's most famous satires dealing with the Napoleonic wars".

Whiggism or Whiggery is a political philosophy that grew out of the Parliamentarian faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639–1653) and was concretely formulated by Lord Shaftesbury during the Stuart Restoration. The Whigs advocated the supremacy of Parliament (as opposed to that of the king), government centralisation, and coercive Anglicisation through the educational system. They also staunchly opposed granting freedom of religion, civil rights, or voting rights to anyone who worshipped outside of the Established Churches of the realm. Eventually, the Whigs grudgingly conceded strictly limited religious toleration for Protestant dissenters, while continuing the religious persecution and disenfranchisement of Roman Catholics and Scottish Episcopalians. They were particularly determined to prevent the ascension of a Catholic heir presumptive to the British throne, especially of James II or his legitimate male descendants and instead granted the throne to the Protestant House of Hanover in 1714. Whig ideology is associated with early conservative liberalism.

Beginning with the Titus Oates plot and Exclusion Crisis of 1679–1681, and the Glorious Revolution of 1688–1689, Whiggism dominated English and British politics until about 1760, after which the Whigs splintered into different political factions. In the same year, King George III was crowned and allowed the Tories back into the Government. Even so, some modern historians now call the period between 1714 and 1783 the, "age of the Whig oligarchy".

The Tories were a loosely organised political faction and later a political party, in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. They first emerged during the 1679 Exclusion Crisis, when they opposed Whig efforts to exclude James, Duke of York from the succession on the grounds of his Catholicism. Despite their fervent opposition to state-sponsored Catholicism, Tories opposed his exclusion because of their belief that inheritance based on birth was the foundation of a stable society.

After the succession of George I in 1714, the Tories had no part in government. They ceased to exist as an organised political entity in the early 1760s; however, the term continued to be used in subsequent years as a term of self-description by some political writers. About 20 years later, a new Tory party arose and participated in government between 1783 and 1830, with William Pitt the Younger followed by Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool. The Whigs won control of Parliament in the 1831 election, which was fought largely on the issue of electoral reform, opposed by the Tories. The Representation of the People Act 1832 removed the rotten boroughs, many of which were controlled by Tories and the Party was reduced to 175 MPs in the 1832 elections.