1770-1827. British Tory politician, foreign
secretary 1807-10 and 1822-27, and prime
minister 1827 in coalition with the Whigs. He
was largely responsible, during the
Napoleonic Wars, for the seizure of the
Danish fleet and British intervention in the
Spanish peninsula. Canning entered Parliament
1793. His verse, satires, and parodies for
the Anti-Jacobin 1797-98 led to his
advancement by Pitt the Younger. His
disapproval of the Walcheren expedition 1809
involved him in a duel with the war minister,
Castlereagh, and led to Canning's resignation
as foreign secretary. He was president of the
Board of Control 1816-20. On Castlereagh's
death 1822, he again became foreign
secretary, supported the national movements
in Greece and South America, and was made
prime minister 1827. When Wellington, Peel,
and other Tories refused to serve under him,
he formed a coalition with the Whigs. He died
in office.