Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Environment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 6 November 1991.
Mr Michael Heseltine
Secretary of State for Environment
12:00,
6 November 1991
I am a Tory; how could I tell I lie? If I wanted to have my house painted—every so often, like everybody else, I do—I should get competitive prices. I know that in doing so I should get the work well done and at the lowest possible price. If Labour authorities would understand that, we should get better value for money out of local government.
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
