Unionists
Posted by Linden on June 01, 1998 at 21:40:39:
In response to Liberal Unionists?, written by Constanza on June 01, 1998 at 16:38:55
] Does anybody know what an Unionist is? Is it related with the Union of Ireland and England?
Yes. (Takes a deep breath as she is about to plunge into Irish/British history:)
The Tories in the late 17th-early 18th century were Irish and/or Catholics who were against the Hanoverian king Georges and the conquest/union of Ireland with Great Britain (Remembering here that Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales, but not Ireland). The Whigs supported the Hanoverians.
The Tories later became the party of the landed gentry, and were in charge at the start of the 19th century. They then became the Conservative Party under Disraeli.
The Whigs at the time became the Liberals under Gladstone. They were in favour, more or less, or Irish Home Rule.
The Unionists were generally Irish Protestants and against Irish Home Rule, so they allied themselves with the Conservative Party. There was, until about the 1960s, a coalition called the Conservative and Unionist party.
There was a fair amount of shifting sides, so a Liberal Unionist was not completely unlikely: I guess they counted as Tories because they would be socially, rather than politically, more aristocratic.
- Liberal Unionist The Mysterious H.C. 08:10:49 6/02/98
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