Tackers was the name given to

High Tory In the United Kingdom and elsewhere, High Toryism is the old traditionalist conservatism which is in line with the Toryism originating in the 16th century. High Tories and their worldview are sometimes at odds with the modernising elements of th ...

Members of Parliament who in 1704 tried to attach ('tack') an Occasional Conformity Bill to

money bill In the Westminster system (and, colloquially, in the United States), a money bill or supply bill is a bill that solely concerns taxation or government spending (also known as appropriation of money), as opposed to changes in public law. Con ...

s in order to pass it through the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

and into law. The Tackers ultimately failed in their efforts, but their actions proved highly polarising in the

1705 English general election The 1705 English general election saw contests in 110 United Kingdom constituencies, constituencies in England and Wales, roughly 41% of the total. The election was fiercely fought, with mob violence and cries of "Church in Danger" occurring in ...

. While there were some successful Whig campaigns to unseat Tacker MPs, some parts of the country had the

Tories A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The T ...

successfully campaign under the rallying cry of '

Church in Danger 'Church in Danger' was a political slogan used by the Tory party, and particularly by High Tories in elections during Queen Anne's reign. 'Church in Danger' was a rallying call for many Anglicans in England who feared that the established Churc ...

', with the Tackers' efforts being positively seen as an effort to protect the established

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

from nonconformists and Dissent. The Tackers' actions caused Queen Anne to turn away from their party as the

War of Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish ...

continued for the next decade. Instead, she added more Whigs to her government, leading to the revival of the

Whig Junto The Whig Junto is the name given to a group of leading Whigs who were seen to direct the management of the Whig Party and often the government, during the reigns of William III and Anne. The Whig Junto proper consisted of John Somers, later ...

.Robert Bucholz and Newton Key, ''Early Modern England 1485–1714: A Narrative History'', (Oxford, 2009), p. 341.

References

Toryism {{UK-statute-stub