Tories

Political Party which emerged during the Exclusion Crisis. Tories supported the King, his prerogatives and the Divine Right of kings. Associated with this, they stood for traditions, hierarchies, High Church and conservatism. Due to this conservative stance, in the first half of the 18th century, members of the Tories were associated with Jacobitism. Although this held true for some, most of the Tories supported the Hanoverian succession. Nonetheless, the governments were usually formed by Whig politicians, the supposedly "natural" choice of the Hanoverians.

In the 19th century, government regularly changed between Tories and Whigs. Both Robert Peel and Benjamin Disraeli were eminent Tory Prime Ministers.