ABSTRACT
Walpole was certainly not the first person to be referred to by contemporaries as prime minister. One of the best definitions of a prime minister is provided by Clayton Roberts: ‘He monopolized the counsels of the King, he closely superintended the administration, he ruthlessly controlled patronage, and he led the predominant party in parliament’. It was not so easy to deal with opposition attacks on foreign policy and the conduct of the war between 1738 and 1742. Towards the end of 1741 it focused on Britain's failure to support Maria Theresa, the Queen of Hungary, following the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession. Walpole resigned on 6 February 1742 and was created Earl of Orford. As a politician Walpole was neither an idealist nor a great reformer. There is no doubt that circumstances, and a large share of luck, helped to raise him to the position of prime minister and then to keep him there.
