Country Party (Britain)
Country Party (1670—1752) | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke |
| Founded | 1670 |
| Dissolved | 1752 |
| Merger of | Commonwealth men Patriot Whigs Tories |
| Succeeded by | Patriots Radicals Tories Whigs |
| Newspaper | The Craftsman |
| Ideology | Classical republicanism Parliamentary opposition Populism Anti-corruption |
| Political position | Syncretic |
Country Party was the name employed in the Kingdom of England (and later the Kingdom of Great Britain) by an early to middle 18th century political movement that campaigned in opposition to the Whig Walpole ministry.
It was a term taken up by opponents of Walpole's Ministers of the Crown and the Court Party who supported them, which they claimed was acting tyrannically and against the interest of the British nation and its people. It took its name from a late 17th century grouping what would later become known as the Whig Party, characterised by its opposition to absolute monarchy.