1.The Development of Parties

British parties developed in the 17th century.By 1679there were two groups：the Tories，who supported the King James Ⅱ，and the Whigs，who opposed him.The Whigs wanted parliament to have more power than the Crown，and played an important part in the“Glorious Revolution”of 1688-1689；they were in power from 1714to 1760.The Tories became the party of the Anglican Church and of country landowners，while the Whigs were supported by Nonconformists and by the trading classes.The Tories held power from 1760almost continuously until 1830.In this period the Whig Party supported the development of industry，religious freedom and parliamentary reform.These policies were successful in 1832，with the passing of the first Reform Bill.The Whigs then took the name“Liberal”，while the Tories became the“Conservative”.Despite the brilliant past the Liberal Party declined at the beginning of the 20th century.In 1916the Party split into two halves，led by Asquith¹ and Lloyd George²，and soon lost its place to the Labour Party.After 1922the Labour Party became one of the two major parties in Britain.Since the coalition government of World WarⅡand the landslide Labour victory of 1945，the Labour and Conservative governments have alternated in power，the Conservatives holding office from 1951to 1964，1970to 1974and 1979to 1997.