The Regency Act 1705 (4 Ann. c.8) was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England. The Act was passed at a time when Parliament was anxious to ensure that a Protestant succeeded to the throne on the death of Queen Anne. The Act was conceived by the Whig Junto, mainly by John Somers, and seen through the House of Lords by Lord Wharton. Lord Cowper later claimed the Act was designed "to put it [the succession] in such a method as was not to be resisted but by open force of arms and a public declaration for the Pretender".