sentences:  Bertie's salary as a Gentleman Usher had been converted to a pension upon the death of Queen Mary, but he found it increasingly difficult to collect under the Whig administration, and was forced to appeal to Lord Oxford, the Treasurer, for assistance.During the same year, Bertie unsuccessfully contested a by-election at Boston to succeed his brother Peregrine.While his appeal on petition to the elections committee of the House of Commons was upheld, the House held that the interference of his eldest brother, the Earl of Lindsey and Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire, had voided the election, and he again lost the subsequent by-election.