'What Dukes, what Drapers, what Barbers, and Peers': Representations of the Election Ball

Eighteenth-century elections have been extensively analysed by Frank O'Gorman as instances of civic ritual. However, his analysis only briefly touches on the contributions of election balls to civic identity. The field of dance history often analyses dance forms, styles, and footwork, but relatively little has been written on dance as a political tool. Similarly, political history overlooks dance as an alternative lens for viewing electoral culture. My research seeks to bridge this gap. 

Caricatures are a rich resource for reconstructing popular attitudes towards election balls. These caricatures form the base of my analysis, with newspapers, novels, and journals filling in the details, demonstrating the importance of dance within the urban environment. Election ball caricatures are key sources, unveiling themes of class, gender, the role of the MP, and how dance played out in the ballroom. Election balls were significant social and political events that brought the community together following an MP's election. Social dance was a tool that aimed at social cohesion, while politics and social hierarchies were enacted in the ballroom. My paper demonstrates that the ballroom was a politically-charged arena of display in which the intricacies of social behaviour and movement through dance contributed to the political campaign.