Charles Wilkinson (1725-1782), was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1777, during which time he was judged insane.
[1] Wilkinson's father was estate agent to the Duke of Newcastle and Charles helped his father in managing the Duke's pocket boroughs of Aldborough and Boroughbridge.
In 1776 when he was asked, he could not be prevailed upon to give any direct answer.
Instead he made confused remarks that “his consent signified nothing about his seat in Parliament, but that he would never go again either into the House of Commons or to London - all he wished for was a safe retirement”.
With the consent of Charles's friends, it was concluded that the Duke was at full liberty to proceed as he intended and the seat was vacated in 1777.