Sir Thomas Hanmer, Bt, member for Suffolk, was installed as Speaker of the House of Commons.

Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, Lord High Treasurer and Tory leader of the Queen's ministry had major problems in coping with the Tory faction, split as it was between Jacobite supporters and "Hanoverians".

He also had to contend with the leadership ambitions of Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke.

Eventually a number of factors (such as his heavy drinking and seeking a dukedom for his son) lead to his downfall and on 30 July 1714 he was stripped of his office in favour, not of Bolingbroke, but Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, a "Hanoverian".

Parliament reconvened for a second short session to complete formalities but was not dissolved until January 1715 as a precaution in the event of a Jacobite rebellion.