William Pitt the Younger the Coalition's majority shrink as some Members of Parliament left the Opposition to abstain. In March 1784, Parliament was dissolved, and a general election ensued. An electoral defeat for the Government was out of the question because Pitt enjoyed the support of King George III. Patronage and bribes paid by the Treasury were normally expected to be enough to secure the Government a comfortable majority in the House of Commons but on this occasion the government reaped much popular support as well. In most popular constituencies, the election was fought between candidates clearly representing either Pitt or Fox and North.
William Rivers Pitt activism. As a result, he joined the staff of Progressive Democrats of America in 2005 as their Editorial director. William Rivers Pitt William Rivers Pitt (born November 9, 1971) is an author, editor, and political activist. Pitt was born in Washington, D.C., and lived several years in Alabama (where his father, Charles Redding Pitt, served as chair of the state Democratic Party) before eventually moving to Boston. He was educated in English literature at Holy Cross College, a Catholic college in Massachusetts, and after graduation spent two years in San Francisco doing law-related work. Formerly, Pitt taught English literature, journalism,