Political coalitions in the House of Commons, 1660–1690: New data and applications

Abstract

Abstract Political coalitions and their interaction with the Crown were central to political dynamics in England from 1660 to 1715. This paper introduces a new database of political affiliations of Members of Parliament (MPs), compiled from contemporary parliamentary lists, from 1660 to 1690. It uses the database to construct a measure of the majority Court or Opposition coalition in the House of Commons. It shows the majority coalition became increasingly cohesive during this period. It then uses the database to produce similar measures of majority coalition strength across constituencies to study the evolution of constituency support for coalitions from 1660 to 1715. The main findings suggest the Glorious Revolution of 1688 led to a significant break in constituency support for political groups. An analysis of constituency coalition preferences during periods of polarization like the Exclusion Crisis (1679–1681) shows constituency support pre-1688 was in part shaped in the absence of general elections and that Dissenters were an important base for the first Whigs in 1679.