View source for Foxite

{{short description|British political faction}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Foxites
| colorcode        = {{party color|Foxite}}
| leader1_title    = Leader(s)
| leader1_name     = [[Charles James Fox]]<br />[[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey|Viscount Howick]]
| foundation       = {{start date and age|1784}}
| dissolution      = {{end date and age|1806}}
| predecessor      = [[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland|Portlandites]]
| merged           = [[Grenvillite]]s
| headquarters     = [[Fox Club, London|46 Clarges Street]], [[London]]
| ideology         = {{Nowrap|[[Liberalism in the United Kingdom|Progressive liberalism]]{{sfnp|Leach|2002|pages=32-34}}{{sfnp|Hay|2005|pages=1-2}}<br />[[Reformism]]{{sfnp|Mitchell|1993|pages=338-364}}<br />[[Radicalism (historical)|Radicalism]]{{sfnp|Beasley|2016}}<br />[[Anti-monarchism]]{{sfnp|Claeys|2007}}{{sfnp|Prochaska|2000|pages=16, 31}}}}
| position         = [[Left-wing politics|Left-wing]]{{sfnp|Dinwiddy|1992|page=13}}{{sfnp|Fox|Russell|1853|page=221}}
| national         = [[Whigs (British political party)|Whigs]]
| country          = the United Kingdom
}}
'''Foxite''' was a late 18th-century British political label for [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] followers of [[Charles James Fox]].

Fox was the generally acknowledged leader of a faction of the Whigs from 1784 to his death in 1806. The group had developed from successive earlier factions, known as the "Old Corps Whigs" (led by the [[Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne|Duke of Newcastle]] in the 1750s and early 1760s), the "[[Rockingham Whigs]]" (who had supported the [[Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham|Marquess of Rockingham]] from the mid-1760s until his death in 1782) and the "Portland Whigs", who had followed the [[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland|Duke of Portland]], who had succeeded Rockingham as prime minister.

In 1794, the Duke of Portland joined the ministry of [[William Pitt the Younger]]. That led to a division amongst the Portland Whigs. Those who remained in opposition became the '''Foxite Whigs'''.

By 1794, Fox had been the leading figure of the faction in the House of Commons for some years. He first served as the government [[Leader of the House of Commons]] in 1782. The term '''Foxite''' is sometimes applied to members of the House of Commons before and after the end of the titular factional leadership of Portland, and was not infrequently used as a blanket term for those opposed to the ruling Pittites after the death of Fox in 1806.

Fox and his supporters remained in opposition after 1794, until the formation of the [[Ministry of all the Talents]] in 1806. That administration was under the premiership of the leader of another Whig faction ([[William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville|Lord Grenville]]). Fox was the Leader of the House of Commons and [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]], during that ministry.

After the death of Fox, his faction was led by [[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey|Viscount Howick]], who, in 1807, became Earl Grey by being removed to the House of Lords. There was a crisis of Whig leadership in the House of Commons, as no obvious chief had emerged.

The Foxite and [[Grenvillite]] factions combined their forces in the House of Commons in 1808. Grenville and Grey jointly proposed [[George Ponsonby]] as leader in the Commons. In effect, that step created the more organised Whig Party of the 19th century and was a major stage in the decline of the factional political system more characteristic of the 18th century. In effect, the Foxites had ceased to be a distinct group, having merged into the [[Grenvillite]]s as part of a significantly more cohesive party of Whigs.

==Electoral performances==
{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Election
! Leader
! Seats
! +/–
! Position
! Government
|-
| colspan=6 {{Party shading/Whigs}} | Preceded by [[William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland|Portland Whigs]]
|-
! [[1784 British general election|1784]]
| [[Charles James Fox]]
| {{Composition bar|155|558|hex={{party color|Foxite}}}}
| {{decrease}} 105
| {{steady}} 2nd
| {{no2|Minority}}
|-
! [[1790 British general election|1790]]
| [[Charles James Fox]]
| {{Composition bar|183|523|hex={{party color|Foxite}}}}
| {{increase}} 28
| {{steady}} 2nd
| {{no2|Minority}}
|-
! [[1796 British general election|1796]]
| [[Charles James Fox]]
| {{Composition bar|95|519|hex={{party color|Foxite}}}}
| {{decrease}} 88
| {{steady}} 2nd
| {{no2|Minority}}
|-
! [[1802 United Kingdom general election|1802]]
| [[Charles James Fox]]
| {{Composition bar|269|658|hex={{party color|Foxite}}}}
| {{increase}} 174
| {{steady}} 2nd
| {{no2|Minority}}
|-
! [[1806 United Kingdom general election|1806]]{{cref|a}}
| [[Charles James Fox]]
| {{Composition bar|431|658|hex={{party color|Foxite}}}}
| {{increase}} 172
| {{increase}} 1st
| {{yes2|Majority}}
|-
| colspan=6 {{Party shading/Whigs}} | Merged into [[Grenvillite|Grenvillite Whigs]]
|}

* {{cnote|a|Presented inside the [[Ministry of All the Talents|Foxite-Grenvillite's Whig coalition]].}}

==See also==
* [[Republicanism in the United Kingdom]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last1=Fox|first1=Charles J.|last2=Russell|first2=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-JiCE3ao80C|title=Memorials and correspondence of Charles James Fox|volume=2|editor=R. Bentley|date=1853|isbn=978-1143282843}}
* {{cite book|last=Foord|first=Archibald S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6wQqAAAAYAAJ|title=His Majesty's Opposition, 1714-1830|editor=Oxford University Press|date=1964|publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0198213116}}
* {{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Leslie G.|url=https://archive.org/details/charlesjamesfox00mitc|url-access=registration|title=Charles James Fox|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor=Oxford University Press|date=1992|isbn=978-0198201045}}
* {{cite journal|last=Mitchell|first=Leslie G.|jstor=573710|title=Foxite Politics and the Great Reform Bill|journal=English Historical Review|volume=108|editor=Oxford University Press|date=1993|issue=427|pages=338–364|doi=10.1093/ehr/CVIII.427.338}}
* {{cite book|last=Hay|first=William A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dX6HDAAAQBAJ|title=The Whig Revival, 1808-1830|editor=Palgrave Macmillan|date=2005|publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1403917713}}
* {{cite book|last=Dinwiddy|first=J. R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2c-aPE3dCsC|title=Radicalism and Reform in Britain, 1780-1850|editor=A&C Black|date=1992|publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1852850623}}
* {{cite book|last=Beasley|first=Edward|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rzFuDQAAQBAJ|title=The Chartist General: Charles James Napier, The Conquest of Sind, and Imperial Liberalism|editor=Routledge|date=2016|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1138699267}}
* {{cite book|last=Claeys|first=Gregory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GplMDwAAQBAJ|title=French Revolution Debate in Britain: The Origins of Modern Politics|editor=Palgrave|date=2007|publisher=Macmillan Education UK|isbn=978-0333626474}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{cite book|last=Prochaska|first=Frank|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q_gLAQAAMAAJ|title=The republic of Britain, 1760-2000|editor=Allen Lane|date=2000|publisher=Allen Lane |isbn=978-0140292435}}
* {{cite book|last=Leach|first=Robert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHfbCQAAQBAJ|title=Political Ideology in Britain|editor=Macmillan|date=2002|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1137332547}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
{{refend}}

[[Category:1784 establishments in Great Britain]]
[[Category:1806 disestablishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Whig factions]]
[[Category:Eponymous political ideologies]]
[[Category:Radical parties]]
[[Category:Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey]]


{{Poli-term-stub}}