Red Tory

Red Tory is a nickname given to a political tradition in Canada's conservative political parties. Red Tories were traditionally to the left of the rest of the party. Originally it referred to the branch of the Tory party that was committed to the welfare state. Modern Red Tories, however, define themselves as "fiscally conservative and socially progressive". The term Blue Tory has been coined to describe more right wing Canadian conservatives.

Decline

The dominance of Red Toryism can be seen as a part of the international Post-War Consensus that saw the welfare state embraced by the major parties of most of the western world. However, in the late 70's and 80's the Progressive Conservative Party suffered a string of electoral defeats, under Red Tory leaders Robert Stanfield and Joe Clark. Pressure began to grow within the party for a new approach. Joe Clark's leadership was successfully challenged by more conservative Blue Tory PC Party members who endorsed Brian Mulroney. Mulroney represented the so-called neoconservative right, committed to strong fiscal conservatism in the style of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Toryism in general, and Red Toryism in particular began to decline in relevance as a political force in Canada.

Related Topics:
Post-War Consensus - Welfare state - Robert Stanfield - Joe Clark - Blue Tory - Brian Mulroney - Neoconservative - Ronald Reagan - Margaret Thatcher

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Red Toryism never held much sway in Western Canada where small-government and social conservatism has been dominant. The growing population and power of the west also played an important role in this transformation. Eventually the explicitly anti-Red Tory Reform Party arose in the west and won many more seats than the Progressive Conservatives because its support was concentrated whereas Progressive Conservatives votes were more thinly spread across the country. For example, in the 1997 General Election there was only a 0.5% difference in the popular vote but the Reform Party won 60 seats to the PC Party's 20 seats.

Related Topics:
Reform Party - 1997 General Election

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Throughout the federal PC Party's decline, Red Tories were generally seen as the most vocal opponents of the Unite the Right initiative, which proposed merging or co-operating with the competing Reform Party of Canada (later the Canadian Alliance). Red Tories considered the Canadian Alliance to be too radically conservative.

Related Topics:
Unite the Right - Reform Party of Canada - Canadian Alliance

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At the provincial level, Albertan Red Tory supporters of Peter Lougheed were marginalized following Ralph Klein's assumption of power. As right-wing support for the Progressive Conservatives bled away to the Reform Party and then the Canadian Alliance, Red Tories increasingly gained control of the federal party. The controversial election of Blue Tory PC Party leader Peter MacKay, however, paved the way for merger with the Canadian Alliance.

Related Topics:
Albertan - Peter Lougheed - Ralph Klein - Blue Tory - Peter MacKay

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When the PCs did ultimately merge in late 2003 with the Canadian Alliance to form the Conservative Party of Canada, many Red Tories expressed the view that they were "now without a political home." Notable Red Tories such as Scott Brison, John Herron and Keith Martin (who, although ideologically a Red Tory, was actually a Canadian Alliance MP) defected to the Liberal Party of Canada. Some Red Tories joined the new Conservative Party. Some prominent Red Tories, including Joe Clark and André Bachand, refused to join the new party, or any other, and sat for the remainder of their terms as independents. A small number formed the fledgling Progressive Canadian Party led by Ernie Schreiber, while others may have joined other centre or centre-left parties.

Related Topics:
2003 - Conservative Party of Canada - Scott Brison - John Herron - Keith Martin - Canadian Alliance - Liberal Party of Canada - André Bachand - Progressive Canadian Party - Ernie Schreiber

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