ABSTRACT
The accession of George III in October 1760 is often presented as heralding a new phase in British history. In particular, his reign has been linked to a growth in radical dissent and the increasing involvement of ‘the people’ in the nation’s political life. In both cases, the newspaper press is seen to have played an important role. However, not every historian is convinced of the novelty of politics under George III. Linda Colley, for example, has argued that the 1760s did not witness the beginning of focused radicalism in Britain, and that parliamentary reform arguments were being rehearsed long before that. 1 Indeed, as we saw in the last chapter, the popular voice was active in English political life from the early part of the eighteenth century. There are good grounds to see some of what happened in the later part of the eighteenth century as a continuation of earlier developments. However, there are also convincing arguments to differentiate the later period, particularly in terms of the increased coherence and prominence of extra-parliamentary movements after 1760. Moreover, such differences may well have been more marked in the provinces, where Nicholas Rogers has suggested that local oligarchies which had predominated during the previous two decades were increasingly challenged by a more independent and egalitarian form of politics. 2 What is not in doubt is that the short-term aims of various reform movements between 1760 and 1789 ultimately failed, but that by the end of the period, there had emerged a more politically 148informed public with a wider social base. This was a transformation in which newspapers played an important part.
