Nasty Party

The term Nasty Party is a term used to refer to the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom. It was popularised in October 2002 by Theresa May, the then Chairman of the Conservative Party and future Prime Minister, when she said in a conference speech that: "There's a lot we need to do in this party of ours. Our base is too narrow and so, occasionally, are our sympathies. You know what some people call us – the Nasty Party."

The term "Nasty Party" applied to Conservative Party members with traditional conservative stances, which included lacking concern for the poor, being anti-homosexual and anti-minorities. Angela Eagle of the Labour Party has warned they risk being the new nasty party.

Many Conservatives felt this tendency was one of the reasons the Conservative Party lost the 1997 and 2001 general elections and that the party needed to broaden its traditional base to have a chance of re-election.

The term was reused in the 2016 Conservative Conference in Birmingham where Theresa May referred to the Labour Party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn as the Nasty Party.