ABSTRACT
The consensus now is that it was exceptionally fluid and that he became prime minister in the midst of a transition from the limited monarchy of the 1760s to the parliamentary government of the 1840s. In fact, the two parties accounted for no more than half the MPs in the Commons, the rest being either members of personal factions or independents, the last of whom usually supported the party in power provided that it had the blessing of the King. However, it was a characteristic of Perceval's career that he made the best of any duties that were placed in his way. The stop-gap successor and prime minister, Pordand, therefore offered him the Chancellorship of the Exchequer with the lead in the Commons the last, possibly, because of the difficulties of choosing between the competing claims of the other three. Perceval’s gloom was justified, for few prime ministers can have had such a difficult first year in office.
