The Conservative Party, colloquially referred to as the Tory Party or the Tories, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom. It espouses the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. After merging with the Liberal Unionist Party in 1912, it changed its official name to the Conservative and Unionist Party, which is now only used for legal purposes, using Conservatives as their everyday name. As of 2013 it is the largest single party in the House of Commons with 303 MPs, governing in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, with David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, as Prime Minister. It is the largest party in local government with 8,296 councillors. The Conservative Party was founded in 1834, and was one of two dominant parties in the 19th century, along with the Liberal Party. In the 1920s, the Liberal vote greatly diminished and the Labour Party became the Conservatives' main rivals. Conservative prime ministers led governments for 57 years of the 20th century, including Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.
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