Ministry of All the Talents
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The Ministry of All the Talents was a national unity government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland formed by William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, on his appointment as prime minister on 11 February 1806, following the death of William Pitt the Younger.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
With the country remaining at war, Grenville aimed to form the strongest possible government and so included most leading politicians from almost all groupings, although some followers of the younger Pitt, led by George Canning, refused to join.
The inclusion of Charles James Fox surprised some as King George III had previously been very hostile to Fox, but the King's willingness to put aside past enmities for the sake of national unity encouraged many others to join or support the government as well. The ministry boasted a fairly progressive agenda, much of it inherited from Pitt.
The Ministry of All the Talents had comparatively little success, failing to bring the sought-after peace with France. In fact, the war continued for nearly another decade. It did, however, abolish the slave trade in Britain in 1807 before breaking up in 1807 over the question of Catholic emancipation.
It was succeeded by the Second Portland ministry, headed by William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland.
List of ministers
Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.
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- Notes
Other uses of the term
The term has since been used in politics to describe an administration with members from more than one party or even a non-coalition government that enjoys cross-party support due to gifted and/or non-partisan members. Examples include the coalition government which led the United Kingdom through the Second World War and the Canadian government that won the 1896 election.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Ireland, the Government of the 20th Dáil (a Fine Gael–Labour coalition that was in office between 1973 and 1977) was widely called the "cabinet of all the talents."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
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- Pages with broken file links
- British ministries
- 1806 establishments in the United Kingdom
- 1807 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
- 1806 in the United Kingdom
- 1807 in the United Kingdom
- Ministries of George III
- Cabinets established in 1806
- Cabinets disestablished in 1807
- Coalition governments of the United Kingdom
- Grand coalition governments
- William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville