An Election Entertainment, plate 1 from the series Canvassing for Votes: Four Prints of an Election

Four Prints of an Election was inspired by the Oxfordshire elections of 1754, in which the Duke of Marlborough, a Whig supporter, challenged the Tory monopoly on parliamentary seats from the district. In Plate 1, the Whigs host a "treat" while the Tories parade outside, voicing their opposition to government spending and taxation. The two Wig candidates are seated at the far left, besieged by potential electors. Among the many identifiable figures, the man in the foreground having his wounded head seen to was a known election ruffian employed by Oxfordshire Whigs.