Whigs

The Whigs were a political party in the parliaments of England, Scotland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. The Whigs' start was in constitutional monarchism and disagreement with absolute monarchy. Between the 1680s and 1850s, they tried to win power over their rivals, the Tories. The British prime minister was usually from one of the two parties.

The Whigs played a central role in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and were the enemies of the Stuart kings and pretenders, who were Roman Catholic. The Whigs took full control of the government in 1715. They held it until King George III, coming to the throne in 1760, allowed Tories back in.Brewer, John 1981. Party ideology and popular politics at the accession of George III. 

When they held power, the Whigs got rid of the Tories from all major jobs in government, the army, the Church of England, the legal jobs and local officials.Jones J.R. 1961. The first Whigs: the politics of the exclusion crisis, 1678–1683. Oxford University Press, 4. 

Their most famous leader was Robert Walpole, who kept control of the government from 1721 to 1742.

Later on, many of their ideas were adopted by the Liberal Party in the later 19th century.

 References 

Other websites

Karl Marx on the Tories and the Whigs (1852)

Category:Former political parties in the United Kingdom
Category:1868 disestablishments
Category:1670s establishments in Europe
Category:17th-century establishments in England
Category:19th-century disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Category:Liberal Party (UK)