British historians on the Whig opposition and revived Toryism of the last third of the XVIII - beginning of the XIX centuries

The article deals with the discussion of British historians on the nature and content of the political ideas of the Whig opposition and the revival of Toryism when George III came to power in Great Britain. The key assessments of the doctrines of the conservative Whigs and the “old Tories” within the ranks of the intellectual history approaches and the influence they had on the modification of the constitutional views of the Tories in the last third of the XVIII - early XIX centuries are identified and investigated. It is emphasized that among researchers adhering to the attitudes of intellectual history, a strong belief was formed that in the first decades of the reign of George III there was no new Tory “party”. However, among the factions in the House of Commons there was a basis for a new reactionary consensus, which contributed to its appearance at the beginning of the XIX century. As a result of the study, it is noted that historiographical constructions with the traditional definition of the Tories as “the party of the court”, and the Whigs as “the party of the country»” are gradually losing relevance today, and are evaluated by modern British historians as schematic and often do not correspond to the actual state of things.