The Scottish Conservative Party (officially the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party), often referred to as the Scottish Tories (see Tory), is the part of the British Conservative Party that operates in Scotland. It was established in 1965, when the previously separate Unionist Party was merged into the Conservative Party of England and Wales, to form the basis of the modern UK Conservative Party (which at that time did not organise independently in Northern Ireland). The Unionist Party, in alliance with a small number of Liberal Unionist and National Liberal politicians, had been the dominant force in Scottish politics until the late 1950s. From the early 1960s that role was taken by the Labour Party.
The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party has 17 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, one of 59 Scottish seats in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and two of seven Scottish seats in the European Parliament. The party has never produced official membership figures, but in March 2006 it was thought to have approximately 16,500 members.