Tory scum

Last updated

Anti-Conservative graffiti - the words "Tory scum" next to an image of a penis -- created during the 2010 student protests. Tory Scum.jpg
Anti-Conservative graffiti – the words "Tory scum" next to an image of a penis — created during the 2010 student protests.

Tory scum is a phrase used to describe members of the United Kingdom's Conservative Party ("Tory" is a colloquial name for the Conservatives) by its opponents. Journalist Michael White called the phrase a regularly used "ancient British roar"; [1] David Graeber, a "familiar slogan"; [2] and Fintan O'Toole joked that in some parts of England the phrase was thought to be the actual name of the Conservative Party. [3]

Contents

In November 2023 the High Court in England ruled that it was "reasonable" for two protesters to have called Iain Duncan Smith “Tory scum” at the 2021 Tory Party Conference. The protestors had been acquitted the year before of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent, and the High Court found that "the use of Tory scum was to highlight the policies" of Mr Duncan Smith, contributing to the "reasonableness of the conduct". [4]

Use in the United States

Since at least the time of the American War of Independence from Britain, Americans referred to those loyal to the British crown – known as Loyalists or Tories [5] [6] — as "Tory scum". [7] [8] [9] After the revolutionary war, the phrase could also be directed at Americans considered disloyal to the United States. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

A Tory is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The Tory ethos has been summed up with the phrase "God, King, and Country". Tories are monarchists, were historically of a high church Anglican religious heritage, and were opposed to the liberalism of the Whig party.

The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It has been the Official Opposition since being defeated in the 2024 general election. The party sits on the right-wing to centre-right of the political spectrum. It encompasses various ideological factions including one-nation conservatives, Thatcherites, and traditionalist conservatives. There have been twenty Conservative prime ministers.

One-nation conservatism, also known as one-nationism or Tory democracy, is a paternalistic form of British political conservatism. It advocates the preservation of established institutions and traditional principles within a political democracy, in combination with social and economic programmes designed to benefit the ordinary person. According to this political philosophy, society should be allowed to develop in an organic way, rather than being engineered. It argues that members of society have obligations towards each other and particularly emphasises paternalism, meaning that those who are privileged and wealthy should pass on their benefits. It argues that this elite should work to reconcile the interests of all social classes, including labour and management, rather than identifying the good of society solely with the interests of the business class.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iain Duncan Smith</span> British politician (born 1954)

Sir George Iain Duncan Smith, often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Chingford and Woodford Green, formerly Chingford, since 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crispin Blunt</span> British politician

Crispin Jeremy Rupert Blunt is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Reigate from 1997 to 2024. Formerly a member of the Conservative Party, he was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Youth Justice within the Ministry of Justice from 2010 to 2012 and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2015 until 2017.

The Conservative Party of Canada, colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance, the latter being the successor of the Western Canadian–based Reform Party. The party sits at the centre-right to the right of the Canadian political spectrum, with their federal rival, the centre-left Liberal Party of Canada, positioned to their left. The Conservatives are defined as a "big tent" party, practising "brokerage politics" and welcoming a broad variety of members, including "Red Tories" and "Blue Tories".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Baron (politician)</span> British politician (born 1959)

John Charles Baron is a British Conservative politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Basildon and Billericay, previously Billericay, from 2001 to 2024. He has frequently rebelled against his party, specifically in his calling for a referendum on the European Union (EU) before the 2015 election and in opposing military intervention in Iraq, Libya, and Syria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 Conservative Party leadership election</span>

The 2001 Conservative Party leadership election was held after the party failed to make inroads into the Labour government's lead in the 2001 general election. Party leader William Hague resigned, and a leadership contest was called under new rules Hague had introduced. Five candidates came forward: Michael Ancram, David Davis, Kenneth Clarke, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Portillo.

Timothy William George Collins, CBE is a British politician, once a prominent member of the Conservative Party. Collins was active in the 1990s and was later the Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmorland and Lonsdale in north-west England from 1997 until his defeat at the 2005 general election by Tim Farron, later leader of the Liberal Democrats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Conservative Party leadership election</span> British Conservative Party leadership election

The 2003 Conservative Party leadership election was held due to the enforced resignation of incumbent leader Iain Duncan Smith, who lost a confidence vote among his parliamentary party. The causes of Duncan Smith's fall are often cited as his lack of charisma and impact with the public, the uninspired direction of the party under his leadership, and his previous failure to achieve more than a third of support among members of parliament in the 2001 leadership contest. In the event, the Conservative Party coalesced around Michael Howard as replacement leader and there was not a contest to replace Duncan Smith.

Barry Charles Legg is a British politician. A former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Milton Keynes South West from 1992 until the 1997 general election, he was defeated by Labour's Phyllis Starkey. Legg is the chairman of the Eurosceptic Bruges Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iain Dale</span> British radio broadcaster (born 1962)

Iain Dale is a British broadcaster, author, political commentator, and a former publisher and book retailer. He has been a blogger since 2002. He was the publisher of the Total Politics magazine between 2008 and 2012, and the managing director of Biteback Publishing until May 2018. Since September 2010, he has hosted a regular discussion show on the radio station LBC. He was named Radio Presenter of the Year at the Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards in 2013 and 2016. On 28 May 2024, he announced that he was quitting his LBC roles to run as an MP in the 2024 United Kingdom general election, only to abandon his campaign three days later. He returned to his usual LBC slot on 3 June.

Mark MacGregor is a British Conservative Party politician and entrepreneur. He fought several parliamentary elections for the party, became chief executive of Conservative Central Office from 2002 to 2003 and then ran Steve Norris' campaign to become Mayor of London in 2004. He has run various businesses, including a communications company, Marketforce Communications Ltd, an events firm and a cloud technology company, Connect Support Services Ltd. He was appointed deputy director of Policy Exchange in early 2013 a year after his eldest child was born.

Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) is a British parliamentary group affiliated to the Conservative Party, which is dedicated to strengthening business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom and Israel, as well as between the British Conservative Party and the Israeli Likud party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No Turning Back (political group)</span> Group within the British Conservative Party

No Turning Back is a group within the British Conservative Party advocating Thatcherite policies. It was founded in 1985 to defend Margaret Thatcher's free-market reforms. The group was named in honour of Thatcher's 1980 Conservative conference quote "U-turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning." No Turning Back published less material in the nineties and became involved in Conservative party in-fighting, resulting in both Michael Portillo and Francis Maude leaving the group, but became more prominent during Iain Duncan Smith's time as Conservative leader because he had been a member until he was elected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Montgomerie</span> British political activist, blogger, and columnist

Timothy Montgomerie is a British political activist, blogger, and columnist. He is best known as the co-founder of the Centre for Social Justice and as creator of the ConservativeHome website, which he edited from 2005 until 2013, when he left to join The Times. He was formerly the newspaper's comment editor, but resigned in March 2014. On 17 February 2016, Montgomerie resigned his membership of the Conservative Party, citing the leadership's stance on Europe, which was then supportive of EU membership. In 2019, he was briefly a special adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, advising on social justice issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 Monklands East by-election</span>

The Monklands East by-election was held on 30 June 1994, following the death of the Leader of the Labour Party John Smith, Member of Parliament (MP) for Monklands East in Scotland, on 12 May.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigger in the woodpile</span> Expression indicating something suspicious or wrong

"Nigger in the woodpile" or "nigger in the fence" is a figure of speech originating in the United States meaning "some fact of considerable importance that is not disclosed—something suspicious or wrong".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservative Party Conference</span> Annual national conference of the British Conservative Party

The Conservative Party Conference (CPC) is a four-day national conference event held by the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It takes place every year in October during the British party conference season, when the House of Commons is usually in recess. The event's location has alternated between Birmingham's International Convention Centre (ICC) and Manchester's Central Convention Complex since 2008. Previously, it had alternated between Blackpool, Bournemouth and Brighton. In contrast to the Liberal Democrat Conference, where every party member attending its Conference, either in-person or online, has the right to vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system, or the Labour Party Conference, where 50% of votes are allocated to affiliated organisations, and in which all voting is restricted to nominated representatives, the Conservative Party Conference does not hold votes on party policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Research Group</span> Eurosceptic faction within UK Conservative Party

The European Research Group (ERG) is a research support group and caucus of Eurosceptic Conservative Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom. In a Financial Times article in 2020, the journalist Sebastian Payne described the ERG as "the most influential [research group] in recent political history".

References

  1. ↑ White, Michael (10 November 2010). "At the student protests, the ancient cry of 'Tory scum' once again echoed out". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  2. ↑ Graeber, David (2016). "Despair Fatigue: How hopelessness grew boring". The Baffler (30): 35. ISSN   1059-9789. JSTOR   43959195.
  3. ↑ O'Toole, Fintan (5 March 2020). "Introduction: Before the Golden Age". Three Years in Hell: The Brexit Chronicles. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   978-1-83893-522-1.
  4. ↑ Boffey, Daniel (21 November 2023). "Reasonable for protesters to call Iain Duncan Smith 'Tory scum', court rules". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  5. ↑ Chopra, Ruma (7 June 2013). Choosing Sides: Loyalists in Revolutionary America. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 30. ISBN   978-1-4422-0573-4.
  6. ↑ Hoock, Holger (9 May 2017). Scars of Independence: America's Violent Birth. Crown. p. 29. ISBN   978-0-8041-3729-4.
  7. ↑ Purcell, L. Edward; Burg, David F. (1992). The World Almanac of the American Revolution. World Almanac. p. 71. ISBN   978-0-88687-574-9.
  8. ↑ Boyd, Paul D. (2004). Atlantic Highlands: From Lenape Camps to Bayside Town. Arcadia Publishing. p. 93. ISBN   978-0-7385-2463-4.
  9. ↑ Hornor, William S. (June 2009). This Old Monmouth of Ours. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 31. ISBN   978-0-8063-4860-5.
  10. ↑ Sawyer, Jeffrey K. (1993). "Distrust of the Legal Establishment in Perspective: Maryland During the Early National Years". Georgia Journal of Southern Legal History. 2: 26. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2443927. hdl: 11603/7312 .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.