Political satire has mocked the powerful for centuries. But in an age of endless headlines, rolling news and social media outrage, satire can often feel strangely powerless.

In Georgian Britain, satire had the power not just to entertain the public, but to shape reputations and destroy careers. Satire meant a scandal could define a politician for decades. Few figures embodied this more completely than Charles James Fox, as my research explores.

Fox was one of the most famous politicians of his age. He was a brilliant parliamentary speaker, early supporter of the French revolution, notorious gambler and political celebrity long before the term even existed.

Though technically a Whig (a former political party), Fox transcended party labels. Admirers celebrated him as a champion of liberty and the “man of the people”. Critics saw him as reckless, corrupt and morally unfit for office.

He fascinated the public because politics itself was changing. The late 18th century was an age of expanding print culture, coffeehouse debate and increasingly personality-driven politics. The boundary between the public and private lives of politicians was beginning to erode. Rumour, gossip and scandal became central to political life in ways that feel remarkably modern.

What made scandals like these so politically potent was the rise of the caricature and visual satire. In Georgian Britain, political scandal was not just reported but also illustrated,........

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