What was the difference between the

Whigs and the Tories?

www.theeducationforum.co.uk
At the End of the 18th 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
1832. 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.