The Whigs, under Lord Shaftesbury's leadership, wished to exclude the Duke of York (who later became King James II) from the throne due to his Catholicism, his favouring of monarchical absolutism and his connections to France.
After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Queen Mary II and King William III governed with both Whigs and Tories, despite the fact that many of the Tories still supported the deposed Roman Catholic James II.