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,
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