For much of the 1780s and 1790s Chatham focused on a political career. As heir to his father, he was poised to be a natural leader of his political supporters. However, during the years that Chatham had devoted to his military career these followers were led by Lord Shelburne and then, increasingly, by Chatham's younger brother. Known as William Pitt the Younger, to distinguish him from his father, he had entered Parliament in 1781 and the following year became Chancellor of the Exchequer. By the time Chatham returned permanently to Britain, his brother was already the dominant political figure in the family. Their youngest brother James, a Royal Navy officer, died from fever in Antigua in 1780.