High Tory

In the United Kingdom and elsewhere, High Toryism is the old traditionalist conservatism which is in line with the Toryism originating in the 16th century. High Tories and their worldview are sometimes at odds with the modernising elements of the Conservative Party. Historically, the late eighteenth-century conservatism derived from the Whig Edmund Burke and William Pitt the Younger marks a watershed from the "higher" or legitimist Toryism that was allied to Jacobitism. High Toryism has been described by Andrew Heywood as neo-feudalist in its preference for a traditional hierarchical and patriarchal society over modern freedom and equality, as well for holding the traditional gentry as a higher cultural benchmark than the bourgeoisie and those who have attained their position through commerce or labour. Economically, High Tories generally tend to prefer paternalistic Tory corporatism and protectionism over the neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism that emerged in the 1960s. The High Tory view in the eighteenth century preferred lowered taxation and deplored Whig support for a standing army, an expanding empire and navy, and overseas commerce. The main reason was that these were paid for or subsidised by the new English Land Tax that had started in 1692. On religious issues, the High Tories usually rallied under the banner of "Church in Danger", preferred High church Anglicanism, and many covertly supported Jacobitism. The long and generally productive Whig premierships of Sir Robert Walpole and William Pitt the Elder, and the continuance of the Hanoverian dynasty caused opinions to change gradually in line with what is now called "Whig history". The change was noticeable from the 1760s with the premierships of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute and William Pitt the Younger. The Land Tax Perpetuation Act 1798 reduced the impact of that tax, though the landed gentry's privileges were reduced by the Reform Act 1832. In the reign of Queen Victoria High Tories now supported the empire and navy, and were personified by the Prime Ministers Lord Derby and Lord Salisbury.