The political term "Tory" dates back to the "Exclusion Crisis" which took place between 1679 and 1681 during the reign of Charles II.
Two political factions had emerged in Parliament: those who wanted to exclude Charles' brother James, the Duke of York, from succeeding the king because he was a Roman Catholic (the Whigs) and those who supported his rights to the throne (the Tories). The Tory campaign prevailed and James became the Stuart king James II.
Both terms were originally pejorative:- Whig came from an old word for yokel or "country bumpkin"; Tory is derived from the Irish Gaelic word tóraidhe, meaning outlaw.
"Simplistically you could say Tories were Cavaliers and Whigs were Roundheads," explains Dr David Seawright from Leeds University, a Conservative Party expert.
Although Tories began by supporting a Catholic heir's rights to succession, they went on to be associated with Anglicanism as well as strong monarchist and patriotic sympathies.
The term "Conservative" first started to be used widely in the 1830s under the leadership of Sir Robert Peel. He re-interpreted the key elements of the old Tory tradition, effectively modernising the party under the banner of support for social reform and free trade.
While the Tory party under the Duke of Wellington had been strongly opposed to the Reform Bill which extended voting rights, Peel accepted it, declaring his support in the Tamworth Manifesto of 1834.
Despite the adoption of a new name, "Tory" endured and the two terms became interchangeable, with the older name appearing in official publications such as Lord Hailsham's "Toryism and Tomorrow" lecture of 1957.
In the early 20th century, both terms were briefly eclipsed by a new name, "Unionist", to reflect the party's resistance to Irish Home Rule. In the latter part of the century, "Conservative" emerged as the official name.
"Tory" was also used during the American War of Independence to refer to colonists who were loyal to the British monarchy. The term has also endured in Canada where centre-right Conservatives are known as Tories.
