William Pitt the Younger (PM 1783-1801 & 1804-06):
Prominent Tory statesmen who became the youngest PM in 1783 at the age of 24, prior to this he held office as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He entered as an MP in 1781 and within 3 years the king chose him as PM showing a notable rise to power. He came to power in an awkward time just after the American War for Independence meaning he had to tackle spiralling National Debt and a lack of confidence in the government. To combat the National Debt he set up a sinking fund which he paid £1 million a year from taxation which proved to be a successful peace time policy. He was also keen to introduce trade reforms as there were outdated and complex custom duties that made smuggling more attractive and Pitt thought it limited the countries economy. In response he simplified or removed the custom taxes, introducing a Book of Rates that laid out duties for each item, and lowered taxes on the most smuggled imports and enabled the authorities to confiscate smuggled goods 4 miles from shore. To make up for loss in taxation he introduced new taxes on commodities that the wealthy classes used, seen as unpopular by them but genius by others. Foreign trade failed with Ireland but was successful with France but that was short lived due to the French Revolution. His government system was in need of reform as it was confusing and inefficient, he allowed many of the hundreds of sinecure offices to lapse, devised a new budgeting system still used today, abolished the free post for MP's and reorganised the Cabinet to make the PM's office the most important.
By the end of Pitts terms his financial and commercial policies seemed to have had a revolutionary effect on growth of trade and industry. By 1793 the annual government revenue increased by £4 million from new taxes with the value of trade doubling. He succeeded in restoring national credit and public confidence and ultimately put Britain in a stronger position to face war with France.
