ABSTRACT
The practice of government was therefore strongly affected by foreign policy considerations, the need to ensure the efficiency of the army and Royal Navy and official finance. Crown patronage began slowly to decline, replaced by the power of factions, so that the focus of political life moved from court to Parliament. It was also a period when many of the practices of government first emerged, not least the use of patronage and the honours system for openly partisan purposes. The emergence of a professional political class continued and it became accepted practice that ministers were chosen from members of one or other House of Parliament. In 1695–96, Gregory King published the earliest systematic attempt at a demographic study of the English population and the contribution of different groups to national wealth. The Whigs remained relatively united until the 1720s, but the Tories after 1701 were divided over the Hanoverian succession and religious matters.
