After 1660 the Controller chaired the Navy Board and directed dockyards, procurement, and infrastructure. Control over dockyard employment also gave the office immense electoral influence in constituencies dependent on naval work. Candidates from any party needed the Controller's approval, encouraging officeholders to preserve their leverage across partisan lines. Naval administration therefore reached directly into the operation of the House of Commons, making a supposedly technical official a major political power.
Notable Point · 27:22-28:26
The Controller's power over dockyard constituencies
Control over dockyard employment let the Controller influence parliamentary elections without tying the office permanently to one party.