John Wilkes (1725–97)

Politician and journalist. MP for Aylesbury, 1757–63. Wrote Essay on woman (1754), a parody of Alexander Pope’s Essay on man. Convicted of libel for denouncing the prime minister and the king’s speech, 1763–4; in exile until 1768. Lord mayor of London, 1774–5. Returned to Parliament, 1774–90.