What was the difference between the Whigs and the Tories?

At the End of the 18 th Century The political parties were just loose groupings who voted together in Parliament They were not organised like modern parties – no structure, or conferences or local branches. They only existed in Parliament They were both dominated by the landed aristocracy and both led by Anglicans (members of the Church of England) There were only subtle differences of emphasis

Tory Beliefs 1. The ‘divine right of kings’ – the belief that the king had been chosen by god and that his subjects had a religious duty to obey him – led to fierce Tory loyalty to the monarchy 2. The Tories strongly defended the supremacy of the Church of England and were against extending civil rights to non conformists (religious minorities) 3. Tories were overwhelmingly and exclusively made up of landed aristocracy 4. The Tories were fearful of and resistant to change and revolution – led them to want to put down protest severely 5. The Tories believed the existing political system should never be reformed 6. In 1783 the leader of the Tories was William Pitt (the younger)

Whig Beliefs 1. The Whigs though loyal were more likely to question the power and expenditure of the King and the royal family 2. The Whigs believed Parliament should have more power than the King 3. They were mainly aristocrats but increasingly drew support from ‘new money’ the industrial and commercial middle class 4. The Whigs were sympathetic to extended rights to religious minorities (Catholics and non conformists) 5. The Whigs were less resistant to change and became more and more pro reform as the influence of the new middle class over them grew 6. In 1783 the leader of the Whigs was Charles Fox

What they became In 1834 the Tories were forced to abandon their complete resistance to all change following the Greater reform Act of This gave votes to the middle classes and so the Tories had to broaden their appeal. They became relaunched as the Conservative Party by Robert Peel, committed to ‘conserving’ what is best in society and introducing ‘change where change was necessary’. Throughout the next 100 years the Whigs became increasingly the party of the new middle class and by 1859 had been relaunched as the Liberal Party by William Gladstone committed to free trade and modernising reform.