Hanoverian Tory

At the time many Tories favoured the exiled Jacobite James Francis Edward Stuart to take the British and Irish thrones, while their arch rivals the Whigs supported the candidacy of George, Elector of Hanover.

However during the Tory government of Robert Harley after 1710, serious consideration was given by senior cabinet ministers led by Henry St. John to secure the throne for James instead.

In the event the Hanoverian Succession followed on relatively peacefully following Anne's death in August 1714, although George's coronation did provoke riots across the country which then continued into the following year.

In 1730 they were still active as a faction when Spencer Compton tried to organise a coalition between them and opposition Patriot Whigs in order to replace the long-standing Prime Minister Robert Walpole.

[4] Hanoverian Tories were active in the attempts to acquit former leader Robert Harley during his impeachment trial in 1715 and subsequent imprisonment in the Tower of London.

The Earl of Nottingham was one of the most prominent pro-Hanoverian Tories in 1714.
George I appointed several Hanoverian Tories in his first government, but they were soon pushed out as the Whig Ascendancy began.