National politics, 1768–1769: John Wilkes

The 1768 election passed reasonably quietly apart from Cumberland, where James Lowther attempted unsuccessfully to gain all the seats, and Middlesex where the radical John Wilkes was elected. King, cabinet and a substantial number of MPs, including Whitbread, united to prevent him sitting. The full implications of this did not fully emerge till 1769. On 27 January 1769 Wilkes presented a petition complaining of his arrest and imprisonment. A division on a government amend¬ment that only part of the petition should be heard was won: for the amendment 278, against it 131 (including Whitbread).

On 3 February the House of Commons voted to expel Wilkes by 219 (including Whitbread) to 1372 because Wilkes's article in the Saint James Chronicle of 17 April 1768 was seen as a seditious libel. On 17 February Whitbread spoke to defend the expulsion of Wilkes. On 15 April a government motion was passed declaring Henry Lawes Luttrell MP for Middlesex in Wilkes's place, despite Wilkes having been elected three times as MP for Middlesex and despite Luttrell polling only 297 votes against Wilkes's 1143.

The attack by Bernard on Bedford borough, 1769

Outside Parliament there was considerable campaigning in favour of Wilkes. Sir Robert Bernard of Brampton in Huntingdonshire, a leading supporter of Wilkes, decided to try to overthrow the Duke's interest in Bedford. Bernard, MP for Hunting-donshire since 1765, wished to extend his radical empire. He was no doubt aware of the anti-Duke party in the Corporation and the antagonism within the town generally to the coalition between Vernon and Hatton in 1767. He was also conscious of the considerable support for Whitbread among Bedford residents. Whitbread's interest after 1768 supported the Duke. Whitbread had voted against Wilkes and would be unlikely to support Bernard or his allies. It was also unlikely that the Radicals would gain a majority from local resident voters. To defeat the Duke, therefore, Bernard would have to get the Corporation to appoint huge numbers of freemen, loyal to him. The vagaries and difficulties, however, of getting reliable support from London out-setters by the Bedford interest had been shown in the 1768 election. Bernard gathered his supporters from his native Huntingdonshire, who were easier to control.

John Heaven, who came from the Harpur Trust estate in Holborn, became mayor of Bedford on 5 September 1768.