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,
St Mary the Virgin, Bromley the west end of the nave survived. In 2005 a meeting room was erected to the rear of the Church and is used by many clubs and societies in the locality. St Mary’s was the local Parish church for two British Prime Ministers, William Pitt the Elder and William Pitt the Younger, the latter of whom was christened here and are remembered by a wall memorial funded by Parliament. They lived opposite the church in a country house called Hayes Place, which was also the home of Everard Hambro. Sir Vicary Gibbs was also a Parishioner and is buried in