Sir Robert Fletcher (c. 1738 – 24 December 1776) was an officer of the East India Company and a member of parliament for Cricklade.

Returning to Britain Fletcher, during the 1768 general election, stood unsuccessfully at Malmesbury before finding a seat at Cricklade.

In parliament, he opposed the government of William Pitt before he was restored to service with the East India Company after the intercession of a fellow MP.

He soon came into conflict with the presidency's governor Josias Du Pre, after which Fletcher chose to leave India and return to Britain.

[1] The young Robert Fletcher was appointed a writer[nb 1] in the service of the East India Company at Madras in May 1757.

He was cashiered (dismissed from the service) for insolence, but the intervention of senior officer Eyre Coote restored him to his position.

After first considering Bridport in Dorset he stood, with William Mayne, for the two seats at Malmesbury in the 1768 British general election.

[3] Undaunted he passed through Cricklade, Wiltshire, just days before the election there and, finding a relative of Clive had declined a seat there, won it on 16 March 1768 without any expenditure whatsoever.

[4] In parliament Fletcher voted generally in support of the opposition to the government of William Pitt but primarily acted in the interest of his restoration to the East India Company.

Fellow MP George Grenville interceded on his behalf with Clive, who dropped his opposition, and on 15 December 1769 Fletcher was reinstated and promoted to colonel.