Lord John Wilkes was an interesting person who was always willing to run against popular opinion if he felt strongly that he was in the right.

In 1769 he fought for the right of his voters – rather than the House of Commons – to determine their representatives. In 1761 he got Parliament to concede the right of publishers to print the content of Parliamentary debates. In 1776 he put forth a bill proposing Parliamentary reform.

But on this day in 1775, Wilkes managed to anger a great number of people in Parliament when he expressed support for the Colonial rebels.

Unfortunately, after one of his actions had an unfortunate effect, his politics became increasingly conservative and as a result he lost his seat in Parliament in 1790. Not long afterward he took a position as a magistrate, and he seemed to once again show more compassion toward the lower classes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed