Thread by @AndrewBrunatti

Next in my #Castlereagh200 series: What structural factors in govt contributed to the chronic stress on #ViscountCastlereagh while he was Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons? 1/

#twitterstorians #HistParl

https://twitter.com/AndrewBrunatti/status/1508176065457541121

Reminder: chronic stress is a key factor in poor #MentalHealth, so structural factors that are organizationally ingrained and exacerbate stress are particularly problematic. 2/

One important structural factor was that there was no equivalent to a modern-day Chief Whip. The functions were dispersed between the patronage secretary to the Treasury (Charles Arbuthnot, L), the Treasury Whip (William Holmes, R), and the Leader of the House (Castlereagh). 3/

This meant that Castlereagh was not only responsible for managing the govt’s legislative strategy (+ the Foreign Office), but also for performing some of the duties of a whip, such as sending treasury notes, estimating voting strength, or influencing backbenchers. 4/

Maintaining MP discipline was hard work; Castlereagh could not count on the loyalty of backbenchers. At the conclusion of vote on the 1816 Army Estimates, he noted: “altho we carried our Establishments, the Opposition were supported by not less than 25 of our usual friends.”5/

Another structural factor was the disparity between departmental resources and the complexity of govt business. The War Dept numbered only ~20 employees, but supported 3 major amphibious operations in as many years (1807 Copenhagen, 1808 Spain, and 1809 Walcheren). 6/

The same disparity between scale of responsibilities and available resources existed while Castlereagh was at the Foreign Office. Through 10 yrs of busy diplomacy that spanned the breadth of Britain’s global interests, Castlereagh’s Foreign Office staff numbered less than 40. 7/

In fact, accounts presented to Parliament indicate that as the demands of summit diplomacy were growing in the post-war period, fiscal retrenchment meant that the staffing of the Foreign Office HQ fell from 36 in 1815 to 24 in 1820--a whopping 33% reduction over 5yrs. 8/

These factors were linked by a common underlying trend: institutions struggling to keep up with change. Individuals willing to put in more hrs made up the difference, but meeting more demand through perseverance alone meant more stress and, hence, more risk to #mentalhealth. 9/9

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