William Pitt the Younger however, was comfortable with Shelburne, and thus joined his government; he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. Fox, who became Pitt's lifelong political rival, then joined a coalition with Lord North, with whom he collaborated to bring about the defeat of the Shelburne administration. When Lord Shelburne resigned in 1783, King George III, who despised Fox, offered to appoint Pitt to the office of prime minister. But Pitt wisely declined, for he knew he would be incapable of securing the support of the House of Commons. The Fox–North coalition rose to power in a government nominally headed by William Cavendish-Bentinck,
William Morton Pitt William Morton Pitt William Morton Pitt, FRS (16 May 1764 – 28 February 1836) was a British Member of Parliament. He was the eldest son of John Pitt of Encombe House, Dorset and educated at Queen’s College, Oxford. He entered Lincoln's Inn to study law in 1774. In 1780 he was returned to Parliament as the Member for Poole, which he represented until 1790 after which he represented Dorset from 1790 to 1826. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1787. He died in 1836. He had married twice; firstly Margaret, the daughter of John Gambier, Governor