ABSTRACT
The capital remained the focus for many of the major political agitations in the early decades of the nineteenth century. The decline of the principal radical societies by the end of the 1790s and the execution of Despard and his fellow conspirators marked the end of one era of activity but did not extinguish some of the advances in political organisation and extra-parliamentary activity which had taken place. Although the industrial areas and provincial towns and cities were coming increasingly to the fore, the capital was still the most important urban community in the country, the security of which dominated the mind of the government. To reformers and radicals alike, it retained an enormous potential for generating support and orchestrating opposition. By 1802 a new popular champion had emerged in the person of Sir Francis Burdett, whose election for Westminster in 1807 and conflicts with the Government in 1810 were to mark important episodes. With the end of the Napoleonic Wars London was the scene of several popular agitations, including those in opposition to the passing of the Corn Laws, the reform campaign of 1816–17, and the support for Queen Caroline. The period also witnessed two insurrectionary attempts, at Spa Fields and Cato Street, which, though total failures, had important repercussions on the conduct of Regency politics and the development of popular radicalism.
