Whig

A Whig was a member or supporter of a British political tradition that favoured Parliament over royal prerogative, religious toleration, and, increasingly, political and constitutional reform. During the nineteenth century, Whigs formed one of the principal political groupings in Parliament, alongside Tories. In the 1850s the Whigs, Radicals, and Peelite Conservatives increasingly combined to form the Liberal Party, formally established in the late 1850s. “Whig” continued to be used thereafter to describe the older tradition and its supporters.