Tory refers to those holding a political philosophy (Toryism)
commonly regarded as based on a traditionalist and conservative view which grew
out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a
prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, and also appears in
parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada. It also had exponents in
former parts of the British Empire, such as the Loyalists of British America
who opposed American independence during the American Revolutionary War. The
Tory ethos has been summed up with the phrase 'God, King and Country'[citation
needed. Tories generally advocate monarchism, are usually of a High Church
Anglican religious heritage, and are opposed to the radical liberalism of the
Whig faction.
The Tory political faction emerged within the Parliament of England
to uphold the legitimist rights of James, Duke of York to succeed his brother
Charles II to the throne. James II was a Catholic, while the state institutions
had broken from the Catholic Church—this was an issue for the Exclusion Bill
supporting Whigs, the political heirs to the nonconformist Roundheads and
Covenanters. There were two Tory ministries under James II; the first led by
Lord Rochester, the second by Lord Belasyse. Some were later involved in his
usurpation with the Whigs, which they saw as defending the Anglican Church.
Tory sympathy for the Stuarts ran deep however and some supported Jacobitism,
which saw them isolated by the Hanoverians until Lord Bute's ministry under
George III.
Conservatism emerged by the end of the 18th century—which
synthesised moderate Whig positions and some of the old Tory values to create a
new political ideology, in opposition to the French Revolution. Edmund Burke
and William Pitt the Younger led the way in this. Due to this faction
eventually leading to the formation of the Conservative Party, members of that
party are colloquially referred to as Tories, even if they are not
traditionalists. Actual adherents to traditional Toryism in contemporary times
tend to be referred to as High Tories to avoid confusion.
