What is a tory?

Tory is the common nickname for a member or supporter of the UK Conservative Party. The word dates back to the 1680s, when it was an insult for supporters of the Catholic heir to the throne. It comes from an Irish word for an outlaw or bandit. Today it is used by supporters and opponents alike.

During the Exclusion Crisis of 1678 to 1681, Parliament split over whether James, the Catholic brother of Charles II, should inherit the throne. His supporters were nicknamed Tories, after Irish outlaws. His opponents were called Whigs, from a Scottish word for rebels. Charles II died in 1685 and James became King. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 then removed him.

The Tories became a political grouping in the eighteenth century, defending the Crown, the Church of England and landed interests. In the 1830s the party began calling itself Conservative, but the old name stuck. The party's official name today is the Conservative and Unionist Party. The modern Conservative Party is often traced to the 1834 Tamworth Manifesto, which set out a programme of careful reform.

Tory is now a neutral nickname used in headlines, and Conservatives often use it proudly. Opponents sometimes use it as a term of criticism. The word is also used in Canada for the Conservative Party there. Variations include Red Tory, for those on the party's more centrist wing, and One Nation Tory, for the paternalist tradition.

Main opposition, led by Kemi Badenoch. Platform: cut property and inheritance taxes, fund this with £47bn of savings from welfare, aid and the civil service, leave the ECHR, cap migration and back oil and gas over net zero.

Key pledges

• Abolish stamp duty on main homes
  No stamp duty when people buy the home they live in. Second homes and landlords would still pay.
• No inheritance tax on family homes left to children or grandchildren, a £1m allowance for couples, then abolish it
  No inheritance tax on a family home passed to children or grandchildren, a £1m allowance for couples, then scrap the tax entirely.
• Scrap the council tax surcharge on homes over £2m, the first of one tax abolished at each Budget
  Cancel the planned surcharge on homes worth over £2m. The party says it would scrap one tax at each Budget.
• Halve employer National Insurance for workers aged 21 to 24, from 15% to 7.5%
  Employers pay half the usual National Insurance on workers aged 21 to 24. It aims to make young workers cheaper to hire.
• Remove VAT from private school fees
  Private school fees would no longer carry 20% VAT, which was added in January 2025.
• Find £47bn of savings, with at least half used to cut the deficit and the rest for tax cuts
  Find £47bn a year of spending cuts, mostly from welfare, aid, the civil service and asylum costs. At least half would cut the deficit.
• Cut overseas aid to 0.1% of national income
  Cut overseas aid from the planned 0.3% of national income to 0.1%.
• Cut about 133,000 civil service posts, back to 2016 levels
  Reduce the civil service by about 133,000 posts, back to its 2016 size.
• Cut the benefits bill, stop school leavers going straight onto out-of-work benefits, and limit benefits to British citizens
  Reduce welfare spending, stop school leavers claiming out-of-work benefits, and limit benefits to British citizens.
• Leave the European Convention on Human Rights
  The UK would leave the European Convention on Human Rights, so the Strasbourg court could no longer rule against UK laws.
• A new Removals Force to detain and deport 150,000 people a year who have no right to be here
  A new enforcement body would detain and remove up to 150,000 people a year who have no legal right to be in the UK.
• A binding annual cap on migration, with the level voted on by Parliament
  Parliament would vote each year on a fixed cap for migration, and the cap would be legally binding.
• Scrap the carbon tax on electricity generation and subsidies for wind farms
  Remove the carbon charges on power stations and stop new subsidy deals for wind farms.
• Issue new North Sea oil and gas licences and scrap the Energy Profits Levy
  Allow new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea and scrap the Energy Profits Levy, the windfall tax on producers.
• Repeal the Climate Change Act
  Repeal the 2008 Climate Change Act, which sets legally binding carbon budgets and the net zero by 2050 target.
• Defence at 3% of GDP by 2030, and £10bn over 10 years for a 'Britannia Shield' against drones and missiles
  Raise defence spending to 3% of national income by 2030 and spend £10bn over 10 years on air defences against drones and missiles.