11th Parliament of Great Britain

11th Parliament of Great Britain
← 10th 12th →
The Duke of Newcastle was prime minister during most of the Eleventh Parliament
Overview
Meeting place	Palace of Westminster
Term	31 May 1754 (1754-05-31) – 20 March 1761 (1761-03-20)
Election	1754 general election
Government	Newcastle I Pitt–Devonshire 1757 Caretaker Pitt–Newcastle
House of Commons
Members	558 MPs
Speaker of the House of Commons	Arthur Onslow
Leader of the House of Commons	Thomas Robinson Henry Fox William Pitt
Party control	Whigs
House of Lords
Lord Keeper of the Great Seal	Earl of Northington
Leader of the House of Lords	Duke of Newcastle Duke of Devonshire
Sessions
1st 31 May 1754 (1754-05-31) – 5 June 1754 (1754-06-05) 2nd 14 November 1754 (1754-11-14) – 25 April 1755 (1755-04-25) 3rd 13 November 1755 (1755-11-13) – 27 May 1756 (1756-05-27) 4th 2 December 1756 (1756-12-02) – 4 June 1757 (1757-06-04) 5th 1 December 1757 (1757-12-01) – 20 June 1758 (1758-06-20) 6th 23 November 1758 (1758-11-23) – 2 June 1759 (1759-06-02) 7th 13 November 1759 (1759-11-13) – 22 May 1760 (1760-05-22) 8th 18 November 1760 (1760-11-18) – 19 March 1761 (1761-03-19)

The Eleventh Parliament of Great Britain was the parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain that sat from 31 May 1754 to 20 March 1761. It was assembled following the general elections held in April–May 1754.

As with its predecessor, the Eleventh Parliament was an overwhelmingly Whig parliament. Traditional Whig–Tory party alignments had little meaning in the course of this parliament. Instead, political competition ran primarily between different Whig factions, such as the "Old Corps", Bedfordites, and Patriots.

There were several changes of ministries in the course of the Eleventh Parliament. Newcastle's "Old Corps" Whigs assembled the first ministry, but had to accommodate the rise of the Bedfordite faction in late 1755 with several cabinet posts. Newcastle's ministry fell in late 1756, during the parliamentary recess, and the third session began with a new Bedfordite–Patriot Whig coalition in control. However, King George II could not brook them and fired them before the end of that session, placing the government in the hands of an interim caretaker ministry. More satisfactory to the king, Newcastle returned to power in coalition with William Pitt before the beginning of the fourth session in late 1757.

The Seven Years' War was fought for the duration of the Eleventh Parliament, and much of its legislation addressed the financing and conduct of the war.

Surrey MP Arthur Onslow was Speaker of the House of Commons for the three prior parliaments, and had been re-elected to serve as speaker for the entire Eleventh Parliament.