The Rage of Party was the tumultuous period in English politics directly after the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

of 1688 until c. 1715. This period was characterised by political instability brought about by increased partisanship within Parliament and frequent elections. Eleven Parliaments met in this period, partly as a result of the

Triennial Act The Triennial Act 1641 (16 Cha. I c. 1), also known as the Dissolution Act, was an Act passed on 15 February 1641,Hanoverian succession The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, bec ...

and the passage of the

Septennial Act 1716 The Septennial Act 1715 (1 Geo 1 St 2 c 38), sometimes called the Septennial Act 1716, was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. It was passed in May 1716. It increased the maximum length of a parliament (and hence the maximum period between ...

allowing up to seven years between elections.

Political divisions

There were two main axes of political conflict during this period. The Whigs, who supported the Glorious Revolution and the Protestant succession, opposed the

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

, who, although supporting the new monarchs in a ''de facto'' sense, were disturbed by the disruption to the divine succession which the Glorious Revolution entailed. Outside of this division was the Court/Country axis. Court politicians were either in government or sought to be, and were thus supportive of centralised power and the dominance of Parliament by the executive. Country politicians distrusted centralised power and were keen to secure the independence of Parliament.Frank O'Gorman, ''The Long Eighteenth Century: British Political and Social History, 1689–1832'' (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016) pp. 42–44. ''

References

{{reflist 17th-century English parliaments Political history of England Political history of the United Kingdom