# Election Candidates

- By: James Gillray (published by Hannah Humphrey (English, c. 1745-1818))
- Date: published May 20, 1807
- Medium: Hand-colored etching on ivory wove paper
- Classification: Print
- Dimensions: Image: 31.5 × 25 cm (12 7/16 × 9 7/8 in.); Plate: 36 × 25.8 cm (14 3/16 × 10 3/16 in.); Sheet: 36.8 × 28.7 cm (14 1/2 × 11 5/16 in.)
- Culture: England
- Credit line: Gift of Thomas F. Furness in memory of William McCallin McKee
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/89878)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/1d0a193d-86d2-3632-75d7-2aa21f47ed7d/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Despite its jovial hand coloring, James Gillray’s response to the 1807 parliamentary election in the district of Westminster caricatures real candidates with ruthlessness. Here Gillray implied that the winner, the radical Sir Francis Burdett, had extra help. Burdett becomes the goose atop the pole, supported by a demonic figure with a pitchfork, while the agitated constituency below degenerates into a mob.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0