The Attack of the Creolian Powers: W est I ndians at the Parliamentary Elections of Mid‐ G eorgian B ritain, 1754–74

This article seeks to build upon recent work on the impact of empire in mid‐18th‐century B ritain by study of the electoral experience of parliamentary candidates who had lived in the W est I ndies and could boast a direct familiarity with the C aribbean. By 1750, a significant number of rich planters had relocated to B ritain, and, in common with the Indian nabobs, their efforts to enter parliament aroused much adverse commentary at the elections of 1754–74. While these attacks were damaging to their interest, and occasioned the most thorough review of C aribbean society to date, the W est Indians were able to respond by adapting their political campaigns to assuage metropolitan sensibilities, thereby ensuring that they were not bracketed with the nabobs or rebellious N orth A mericans as imperial sources of domestic upheaval. Their success highlights the possibilities for successful imperial integration in mid‐ G eorgian Britain, although the W est Indians could not rely on the same strategies to combat the abolitionist movement after 1787.