Representation of the Election of Members of Parliament for Westminster 1818.

This print shows the crowds outside St Paul's Church in Covent Garden on polling day during the 1818 General Election. Westminster became the heartland of London Radicalism during the Napoleonic Wars. Voters elected the Radical Francis Burdett as MP in 1807. He campaigned for parliamentary reform and opposed the war with France. At one point, the House of Commons voted to have him imprisoned in the Tower of London for his radical views!

Burdett's supporters can be seen holding banners in the crowd. One reads 'Magna Carta', which Burdett frequently championed as the foundation of English liberties. Burdett was criticised by some on the left for being too cautious and was challenged in the 1818 Election by Henry 'Orator' Hunt. Unlike Burdett who thought the reform too ambitious, Hunt campaigned for universal suffrage. A banner supporting this cause is being waved in the crowd. In the event, the moderate Samuel Romilly defeated both Burdett and Hunt. The results are displayed on the placard being held up on the left side of the picture. Hunt is trailing a distant fourth place. Romilly's victory was short lived however. He suffered from depression and took his own life following the death of his wife Anne in the same year. Burdett was re-elected MP for Westminster and remained so until 1837. Election day also provided an opportunity for street vendors to do a brisk trade. Among the spectators pies, milk, seafood and drinks are being sold. Many people depicted in the crowd would not have been eligible to vote in a parliamentary election due to the limited electoral franchise in this period.

The print was made by the firm Robert Havell and Son from an original drawing by George Scharf, and was published by Scharf and Paul Colnaghi. Scharf was originally from Bavaria. At the time of publication, he had only recently arrived in London from Paris after serving in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. He lived and worked at 3 St Martin's Lane. Colnaghi, an Italian by birth, was print seller to the Prince Regent and had a shop at 23 Cockspur Street. Havell and Son was a family printmaking business. Originally from Reading, the Havells occupied several premises in the Fitzrovia area of London.