William Wilberforce was not a conservative / Tory MP

William Wilberforce was not a conservative MP. I was amazed to find out recently that the cheep Tory propaganda claim that Wilberforce was a Tory is in fact a lie. And in fact the his famous 1807 act of parliament was carried out during a short lasting Whig party government. As was the 1833 total abolition. So why do tories claim the credit?

The Slave Trade Act was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 25 March 1807, with the long title "An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade". The original act is in the Parliamentary Archives. The act abolished the slave trade in the British Empire, but not slavery itself; that had to wait for the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

Wilberforce was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull, spending over £8,000 to ensure he received the necessary votes, as was the custom of the time. Wilberforce sat as an independent, resolving to be "no party man". Criticised at times for inconsistency, he supported both Tory and Whig governments, working closely with the party in power, and voting on specific measures according to their merits.

William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville PC (October 25, 1759 – January 12, 1834), was a British Whig statesman and Prime Minister. Following William Pitt's death in 1806, Grenville became the head of the "Ministry of All the Talents", a coalition between Grenville's supporters, the Foxite Whigs, and the supporters of former Prime Minister Lord Sidmouth, with Grenville as First Lord of the Treasury and Fox as Foreign Secretary as joint leaders. Grenville's cousin William Windham served as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, and his younger brother, Thomas Grenville, served briefly as First Lord of the Admiralty. The Ministry ultimately accomplished little, failing either to make peace with France or to accomplish Catholic emancipation (the later attempt resulting in the ministry's dismissal in March, 1807). It did have one significant achievement, however, the abolition of the slave trade in 1807.

The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 was an 1833 Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolishing slavery throughout the majority of the British Empire (with the notable exceptions "of the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company," the "Island of Ceylon," and "the Island of Saint Helena.")
Once again this happened under a whig party government of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey. In 1830, the Whigs finally returned to power, with Grey as Prime Minister. His Ministry was a notable one, seeing passage of the Reform Act 1832, which finally saw the reform of the House of Commons, and the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833. As the years had passed, however, Grey had become more conservative, and he was cautious about initiating more far-reaching reforms. In 1834 Grey retired from public life, leaving Lord Melbourne as his successor.

The Tories did nothing to stop slavery. Yet in their mendacity claim they did. Even holding celebratory parties claiming his act as theirs. Well when did the Tories become the Whig party.: