At George I’s accession the chief interest at Ludgershall was that of the Webbs of Biddesden, in the parish of Ludgershall. In 1715 the candidates were General John Richmond Webb, his brother, Thomas, and another Tory, John Ivory Talbot. General Webb was returned with Talbot, against whom Thomas petitioned on the ground that he had a majority of legal votes but that the bailiff had been prevailed upon to return Talbot. The petition was withdrawn.1 In 1722, when all three candidates were Webbs, the general and his son, Borlase, defeated Thomas. After the death of General Webb in 1724 Borlase Webb shared the representation with Whigs till 1734, when he and another Tory were opposed by two Whigs, Daniel Boone, the son of the previous Whig Member, and Peter Delmé. According to a contemporary account there were two rival returning officers, one of whom was

in the interest of Mr. Delmé and Mr. Boone, and by means of art and power obtained the writ and so returned them as duly elected to the sheriff of Wilts, who was also of the same side of the question and absolutely refused

to accept the other officer’s return in favour of their opponents.

But the principal person interested in this affair was John Selwyn Esq., commonly called Colonel Selwyn, who had at this time purchased a considerable number of valuable tenements, so that Mr. Delmé and Mr. Boone were nominated by him (at least Mr. Delmé was).2

The tenements in question were the manor of Ludgershall, carrying with it the nomination of the returning officer, which Selwyn, a friend of Walpole’s, had acquired from the Treasury in June 1733.3 Thenceforth Selwyn had complete control of the borough, nominating his brother and nephew as Members in 1741 and his son and brother-in-law in 1747. The 2nd Lord Egmont in his electoral survey, c.1749-50, describes Ludgershall as ‘totally in John Selwyn’.