Editing Politics of the United Kingdom (section)

===Conservatives (Tories)===
{{Main|Conservative Party (UK)}}
The Conservative Party won the largest number of seats at the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]], returning 330 MPs, enough for an overall majority, and went on to form the first Conservative majority government since the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 general election]]. The Conservatives won only 318 seats at the 2017 general election, but went on to form a [[confidence and supply]] deal with the [[Democratic Unionist Party]] (DUP) who got 10 seats in the House of Commons, allowing the Conservative Party to remain in government. The Conservatives won a majority government in 2019, taking 365 seats and forming the first majority government since 2015–17. The party won 121 seats at the 2024 general election, making it the second-largest group in the House of Commons.

The Conservative Party can trace its origin back to 1662, with the Court Party and the Country Party being formed in the aftermath of the [[English Civil War#Aftermath|English Civil War]]. The Court Party soon became known as the [[Tories]], a name that has stuck despite the official name being 'Conservative'. The term "Tory" originates from the [[Exclusion Crisis]] of 1678–1681 – the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whigs]] were those who supported the exclusion of the Roman Catholic [[James II of England|Duke of York]] from the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland, and the Tories were those who opposed it. Generally, the Tories were associated with lesser gentry and the Church of England, while Whigs were more associated with trade, money, larger land holders (or "land magnates"), expansion and tolerance of Catholicism. The Rochdale [[Radicals (UK)|Radicals]] were a group of more extreme reformists who were also heavily involved in the [[cooperative movement]]. They sought to bring about a more equal society, and are considered by modern standards to be [[left-wing]].

After becoming associated with repression of popular discontent in the years after 1815, the Tories underwent a fundamental transformation under the influence of [[Robert Peel]], himself an industrialist rather than a landowner, who in his 1834 "[[Tamworth Manifesto]]" outlined a new "Conservative" philosophy of reforming ills while conserving the good.
Though Peel's supporters subsequently split from their colleagues over the issue of free trade in 1846, ultimately joining the Whigs and the [[Radical Party (UK)|Radicals]] to form what would become the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]], Peel's version of the party's underlying outlook was retained by the remaining Tories, who adopted his label of Conservative as the official name of their party.

The Conservatives were in government for eighteen years between 1979 and 1997, under the leadership of the first-ever female prime minister, [[Margaret Thatcher]], and former [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] [[John Major]] (1990–97). Their landslide defeat at the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]] saw the Conservative Party lose over half their seats gained in 1992, and saw the party re-align with public perceptions of them. The Conservatives lost all their seats in both Scotland and Wales, and was their worst defeat since [[1906 United Kingdom general election|1906]].
In 2008, the Conservative Party formed a pact with the [[Ulster Unionist Party]] (UUP) to select joint candidates for European and House of Commons elections; this angered the DUP as by splitting the Unionist vote, republican parties will be elected in some areas.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7768650.stm Pact will 'empower NI electorate'] BBC News, 6 December 2008</ref>

After thirteen years in opposition, the Conservatives returned to power as part of a coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats in 2010, going on to form a majority government in 2015. [[David Cameron]] resigned as prime minister in July 2016, which resulted in the appointment of the country's second female prime minister, [[Theresa May]]. The Conservative Party is the only party in the history of the United Kingdom to have been governed by a female prime minister. In 2019, [[Boris Johnson]] was appointed prime minister after May stepped down during Brexit negotiations. At one point during 2019 his party had a parliamentary minority for a short period after he ejected a large number of party members, of which some were subsequently allowed to return for the 2019 General election. Following the election the Tories returned with a majority government under Johnson.

Historically, the party has been the mainland party most pre-occupied by [[British unionism]], as attested to by the party's full name, the Conservative and Unionist Party. This resulted in the merger between the Conservatives and [[Joseph Chamberlain]]'s [[Liberal Unionist Party]], composed of former Liberals who opposed [[Irish home rule]]. The unionist tendency is still in evidence today, manifesting sometimes as a scepticism or opposition to devolution, firm support for the continued existence of the United Kingdom in the face of movements advocating independence from the UK, and a historic link with the cultural unionism of Northern Ireland.