Spencer Compton
Spencer Compton was a Whig politician and a member of the Parliament.
Contents
History
Compton was a younger son of James Compton, earl of Northampton. His family were known to be Tories; he in contrast stood for elections as a Whig.
He was finally elected to the Commons in 1698 for Eye, a rotten borough.
Following the Sacheverell riots, Compton did not stand for the 1710 election at all. He returned to Parliament in 1713.
With the Hanoverian succession and a Whig victory in 1714 elections, Compton became a prominent figure in the Commons and was elected speaker. He generally was associated politically with the Patriot Whigs and George, prince of Wales. He maintained the speakership throughout the Whig Split and despite these associations that otherwise placed him opposite the Townshend government.
Shortly after George II succeeded the throne, in 1728, Compton was created baron of Wilmington. This was a strategic move by Walpole to remove him from the Commons. Two years later he was created viscount of Pevensey and earl of Wilmington. In the House of Lords, he remained a minor member of government.
Walpole was forced to resign from government in 1742. Compton inherited the government but remained a nominal leader, while Pelham was the effective leader.
Compton died the next year.