On the other hand, if the Tory Party is the name of the Party before Disraeli, and the Conservative Party the name after, and if Disraeli changed the principle of the party from ‘a proprerty owning democracy is the foundation of a stable democracy’ to ‘a property owning public is the foundation of a stable democracy’ then it must make some sense for “Tory” to describe the earlier policy rather than the later.

Thought-provoking article about something I’d never really considered before. I like to use the term “Tory” simply because it’s shorter! I had always thought it synonymous with “Conservative”.

I’m currently reading The Strange Death of Tory England in which the author traces the roots of Toryism back to Tudor times, and the party itself to the 17th century. However, it is not clear to me from the book what early Tories had in common with later variants, and the author actually says: ‘Changed circumstances inevtiably meant that Toryism itself changed almost beyond recognition over the course of two then three centuries” and that “Toryism showed a rare gift for survival and for adapting itself to changed circumstances, for co-opting one social class after another”. From this I was not really sure if there have been any core, unchanging characteristics. The word “Tory” derives from a Gaelic word for “pursuer”, used in the 17th century to describe a type of bandit. I’m not sure what this says about the party!

“The Party is still considered by many to be the natural home of the aristocracy - if they vote, I don’t imagine many vote Labour”

Apart from Tony Benn, of course!

I would just like to add my two-pennies-worth: I think the word Conservative suggests that we’re not radical. I understand the risks in changing the name and that many people see it as superficial but it may help us distance ourselves from being conservative as well as Conservative.