William Pitt the Younger intelligence network of spies and informers to crush the United Irishmen. In April 1797, the Pitt government was badly shaken by the mutiny of the entire fleet at Spithead with the sailors demanding a pay increase to match inflation. The Spithead mutiny occurred at exactly the same moment that the French and their Dutch allies were preparing for an invasion of Great Britain which threw the government into a state of panic. To regain control of the fleet, Pitt agreed to sailors' demands for pay increases and to have George III pardon the mutineers. By contrast, the more political "floating
Records of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom the middle name until the 1980s.) The richest Prime Minister was Lord Derby, with a personal fortune of over £7 million (about £444 million in today's money). The poorest was William Pitt the Younger, who was £40,000 (now over £1 million) in debt by 1800. Three Prime Ministers ultimately died as a result of accidents: Records of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom The article lists the records of Prime Ministers of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom since 1721. The Prime Minister with the longest single term was Sir Robert Walpole, lasting 20 years and 315 days from