Chairing the member was a traditional ceremony, in which, the winner of the election was carried aloft in a chair in triumphant procession through the streets. Depicted by Hogarth it becomes a satircal comment on the goverment of the day. The fat well fed winner of the tory party is carried by some of his supporters one of whom has just been hit on the head by a man carrying a flail who in his turn is having to fight off a member of the whig party. There is music and fun at the moment of victory. But is Hogarth saying that the corpulent MP is heading for a fall? Certainly on the gate post there is a firm warning in the shape of the skull and crossbones that victory and good times for these people is only temporary, indeed if you look at the background of the painting is that a riot coming towards the victory parade or is it merely more merry makers. For myself, I see it as Hogarths warning that the ordinary people wont endure the corrupt government ways for much longer and change is coming. In fact there was an uprising of the Whig party in 1714 that over the next few years virtually purged the government of the Torys (1715-1760).