Chatham ministry

Almost immediately its "measures, not men" philosophy began to come apart when Lord Egmont resigned the Admiralty due to his opposition to Chatham's foreign policy and was replaced by the Rockingham Whig Sir Charles Saunders.

[6] Soon after, Chatham managed to largely alienate the heretofore cautiously friendly Rockingham faction by dismissing their ally Lord Edgcumbe, the Treasurer of the Household.

[7] Though Saunders was replaced by the competent Admiral Sir Edward Hawke, most of the other positions were given to former supporters of the royal favourite Lord Bute, increasing the unpopularity of the ministry and strengthening the opposition.

[10] The death of Charles Townshend had also led to his replacement at the Exchequer by Lord North, who also took leadership of the commons over from Conway, who was increasingly uncomfortable with the direction of the ministry.

The adhesion of the Bedfords ultimate gave them a dominant role in the ministry, which they used to pursue a more hardline policy towards the American colonies than Chatham had originally intended, or than several of the remaining were comfortable with.