, were referred to as tories during the
Interregnum and
Restoration period in Great Britain. Towards the end of
Charles II's reign (1660–1685) there was
some debate about whether his brother,
James, Duke of York, should be allowed to accede to the throne because of James's Catholicism. "Whigs", originally a reference to Scottish cattle-drovers (stereotypically radical anti-Catholic
Covenanters), was the abusive term directed at those who wanted to exclude James on the grounds that he was a Catholic. Those who were not prepared to exclude James were labelled "
Abhorrers" and later "Tories".
Titus Oates applied the term
Tory, which then signified an Irish robber, to those who would not believe in his
Popish Plot and the name gradually became extended to all who were supposed to have sympathy with the Catholic Duke of York.
United Kingdom was the second Tory to lead a Ministry in Great Britain. The
Tory political faction originally emerged within the
Parliament of England to uphold the legitimist rights of
James II to succeed his brother
Charles II to the thrones of the three kingdoms. James became a Catholic at a time when the state institutions were fiercely independent from the
Catholic Church—this was an issue for the
Exclusion Crisis supporting
Patricians, the political heirs to the nonconformist
Roundheads and
Covenanters. During the Exclusion Crisis, the word Tory was applied in the
Kingdom of England as a nickname to the opponents of the bill, called the
Abhorrers. The word "Tory" had connotations of
Papist and
outlaw derived from its previous use in Ireland.
Conservatism began to emerge in the late 18th century—it synthesised
moderate Whig economic policies and many Tory social values to create a new political philosophy and faction in opposition to the
French Revolution.
Edmund Burke and
William Pitt the Younger led the way in this.
Interventionism and strong-armed forces were to prove a hallmark of Toryism under subsequent prime ministers. The word
Conservative began to be used in place of Tory during the 1830s during
Robert Peel's leadership. At the same time,
followers began to reinterpret elements of Tory tradition under a banner of support for social reform and free trade. By the 1930s, the factions within Canadian Toryism were associated with either the urban business elites or with rural traditionalists from the country's hinterland. A "Red Tory" is a member of the more moderate wing of the party (in the manner of
John Farthing and
George Grant). They are generally unified by their adherence to British traditions in Canada. Throughout the course of Canadian history, the Conservative Party was generally controlled by
MacDonaldian Tory elements, which in Canada meant an adherence to the English-Canadian traditions of
Monarchy,
Empire-Commonwealth,
parliamentary government,
nationalism, protectionism, social reform and eventually acceptance of the necessity of the
welfare state. refugees on their way to
the Canadas during the
American Revolution. 1901 illustration by
Howard Pyle. The Loyalists helped establish the base of support for political cliques in the Canadas, locally referred to as Tories. By the 1970s, the
Progressive Conservative Party was a
Keynesian-consensus party. With the onset of
stagflation in the 1970s, some Canadian Tories came under the influence of
neo-liberal developments in the United Kingdom and the United States, which highlighted the policies for
privatization and
supply-side interventions. In Canada, these Tories have been labelled
neoconservatives—which has a somewhat different connotation in the United States. By the early 1980s, there was no clear neoconservative in the Tory leadership cadre, but
Brian Mulroney (who became leader in 1983) eventually came to adopt many policies from the
Margaret Thatcher and
Ronald Reagan governments. As Mulroney took the
Progressive Conservative Party further in this direction, with policy initiatives in the areas of
deregulation, privatization, free-trade and a
consumption tax called the
Goods and services tax (GST), many traditionally-minded Tories became concerned that a political and cultural schism was occurring within the party. The 1986 creation of the
Reform Party of Canada attracted some of the
neo-liberals and
social conservatives away from the Tory party, and as some of the neoconservative policies of the Mulroney government proved unpopular, some of the provincial-rights elements moved towards Reform as well. In 1993, Mulroney resigned rather than fight an election based on his record after almost nine years in power. This left the Progressive Conservatives in disarray and scrambling to understand how to make Toryism relevant in provinces such as
Quebec,
Saskatchewan,
Alberta and
British Columbia that had never had a strong Tory tradition and political culture. Thereafter in the 1990s, the Progressive Conservatives were a small party in the
House of Commons of Canada and could only exert legislative pressure on the government through their power in the
Senate of Canada. Eventually, through death and retirements, this power waned.
Joe Clark returned as leader, but the schism with the Reformers effectively watered down the combined Blue and Red Tory vote in Canada. By the late 1990s, there was talk of the necessity of uniting the right in Canada to deter further
Liberal Party majorities. Many Tories—both red and blue—opposed such moves, while others took the view that all would have to be pragmatic if there was any hope of reviving a strong party system. The
Canadian Alliance party (as the Reform Party had become) and some leading Tories came together on an informal basis to see if they could find common ground. While Progressive Conservative Leader Joe Clark rebuffed the notion, the talks moved ahead and eventually, in December 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative parties voted to rejoin as a new party called the Conservative Party of Canada. After the merger of the Progressive Conservatives with the Canadian Alliance in 2003, there was debate as to whether the "Tory" appellation should survive at the federal level. Commentators speculated that some Alliance members would take offence at the term. Nevertheless, it was officially adopted by the merged party during the
2004 leadership convention.
Stephen Harper, former leader of the
Conservative Party of Canada and Prime Minister from 2006 to 2015, regularly refers to himself as a Tory and says the new party is a natural evolution of the conservative political movement. However, there were some dissident Red Tories who were against the merger. They formed the rival
Progressive Canadian Party. In 2025, the centrist Alberta Party renamed itself the
Progressive Tory Party of Alberta.
United States , during the
American Revolutionary War. He was shot while commanding Loyalist regulars and
militia at the
Battle of Kings Mountain. The term "Loyalist" was used in the
American Revolution for (and by) those who remained loyal to the British Crown. Loyalists were frequently called "Tories" by
Patriots, who used this term as a derogatory label. About 80% of the Loyalists remained in the United States after the war. The 60,000 or so Loyalists who settled in Nova Scotia,
Quebec,
the Bahamas, or returned to Great Britain after the American War of Independence are known as United Empire Loyalists. On 12 February 1798,
Thomas Jefferson (of the
Democratic-Republican Party) described the
conservative Federalist Party as "[a] political Sect [...] believing that the executive is the branch of our government which the most needs support, [who] are called federalists, sometimes aristocrats or monocrats, and sometimes Tories, after the corresponding sect in the English Government of the same definition". However, that was clearly a hostile description by the Federalists' foes of whom Jefferson was one and not a name used by the Federalists themselves. The Federalist Party was dissolved in 1835 with no successor parties. Later, the
Democratic-Republican Party splintered into different parties, with the two dissidences being the
National Republican Party and the
Whig Party. The rest of the party would become the
Democratic Party. The National Republican Party would then merge with the Whig Party, giving rise to what would be called the
Second Party System. Although the Whig Party adopted its name from its British counterpart, the term "Tories" had already completely fallen out of favour in the US. During the
American Civil War,
Confederate forces commonly referred to
Southern Unionists as
Tories, drawing a parallel with the Tories of the American Revolutionary War. To the Confederates, Southern Unionists symbolised a direct challenge to their political aspirations and were viewed as "traitors to the white race". Conversely,
Unionists regarded Southern Unionists as a loyal segment of the Southern population, swept by the tide of succession, and around whom the foundations of
Reconstruction would be built.
Texas Revolution In Texas in 1832–1836, support for the
Texas Revolution was not unanimous. The "Tories" were men who supported the Mexican government. The Tories generally were long-term property holders whose roots were outside of the lower South. They typically had little interest in politics and sought conciliation rather than war. The Tories wanted to preserve the economic, political and social gains that they enjoyed as citizens of Mexico, and the revolution threatened to jeopardise those gains. ==Current usage==