A member of the conservative party, as opposed to the progressive party which was formerly called the Whig, and is now called the Liberal, party; an earnest supporter of existing royal and ecclesiastical authority.

A slang term for a Conservative Party member.

From Toraidhe, Irish for bandit, cattle thief or outlaw, this term was initially applied pejoratively to the English supporters of the future James II during the Exclusion Crisis of 1679. 'Tories' later became the nickname of a political party (later known as the Conservatives) of those who, by common agreement, were particularly loyal to 'Church and king'. A subsection – the High Tories – were especially fierce in their devotion to the Church of England, opposing the union with Scotland because of it. Find out more

a supporter of traditional political and social institutions against the forces of reform; a political conservative

an old Irish word for robber or thief

Wealthy pro-English faction in America at the time of the Revolutionary War in the late 1700s.

The term Tory (from Irish Gaelic tóraighe, an outlaw or guerrilla fighter, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms — literally meaning "pursued man") applied to the Tory Party, the ancestor of the modern UK Conservative Party. To this day it is often used as a shortened form for Conservatives. Its usage also applied to the pre-1965 Scottish Unionist Party which operated independently of, although in association with, the Conservative Party in England and Wales.