Tory (from the Irish term tóraidhe, outlaw, robber). The political term originates from the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and English Civil War of the 1640s and 1650s, when it referredt to Irish guerrilla fighters. It entered English politics during the →Exclusion Bill crisis of 1678–1681, in which the Tories opposed the exclusion of →James II from the thrones of Scotland and England & Ireland. Party politics varied from Anglican royalism (supporting a strong King and State church against an increasingly strong parliament) to a pro catholic agenda. In foreign politics the party tended to ally with (Catholic) France against the (Reformed) Netherlands. →Wikipedia