Under the Triennial Act, the Parliament was due to expire, if not dissolved sooner, at the end of the term of three years from the first meeting.

Table 1: Constituencies and MPs, by type and country Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country Party Composition: An estimate of the approximate Party composition was Whig 291 and Tory 222.

On 16 November 1708, Sir Richard Onslow, Bt (1654-1717), MP (Whig) for Surrey since 1689, was elected the second Speaker of the House of Commons of Great Britain.

A new Ministry was constructed composed of Court Party supporters and Tory groups led by Robert Harley, Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester and Henry St John.

Harley, the ambitious member for Radnor Boroughs, had become associated with the Tories since Godolphin and Marlborough had forced his resignation from the government in 1708.