GB general election, 1784

The British general election of 1784 began in March of that year. In each constituency polling ran on for as long as voters arrived or until candidates withdrew when the result seemed certain.

The election was called in the aftermath of the dismissal of the Fox-North Coalition and the appointment of William Pitt the Younger as Prime Minister by George III. Many supporting Charles James Fox and Lord North asserted that the constitution of the country had been violated; however the evidence of prior petitions, resolutions of borough corporations and the actions of the London mobs had all indicated a very strong degree of popular support for George III's actions and the appointment of Pitt and this was bourne out in the elections results.

The election was fought very much as a national campaign around the questions of the fall of the Fox-North government and whether or not Pitt should continue in office, rather than a series of local campaigns, which was more common for 18th century British elections.

Thanks to a combination of patronage and bribes paid by the Treasury, many small pocket boroughs returned Pitt-supporting MPs as widely expected. Additionally, in the constituencies decided by large electorates there was massive support for Pitt-supporters. Many of Fox's supporters were forced to either withdraw or make deals with their opponents to avoid election defeat. In the county constituencies only one Fox supporter was elected in a contest, though others returned due to local electoral pacts. The many Fox supporters who failed to return to the House of Commons became known as "Fox's Martyrs".

The contests involving both Pitt and Fox attracted particular attention. Pitt had long wished to be a Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge and had failed to be elected when he stood for the seat in the 1780 general election. Now he was returned at the top of the poll and would hold the seat for the rest of his life.

Fox was one of the two sitting members for the constituency of Westminster, which had the largest electorate of any in the country. He stood against two Pitt supporters for the constituency's two seats and arguably the most famous 18th century election contest ensued. Both sides spent heavily, campaigned bitterly, allegedly libelled and slandered their opponents relentlessly and resorted to all kinds of tactics, including Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire touring the streets and kissing many voters to induce them to vote for Fox. Even George, Prince of Wales campaigned for Fox. After polling many legal challenges were lodged against the result, which declared that Fox had narrowly won the second seat in a very tight three-way result, resulting in a long scrutiny of the votes. In the meantime Fox sat for the pocket borough of Orkney. Eventually the protracted scrutiny was abandoned and Fox was declared elected.