What do the high-heeled and low-heeled shoes represent in Lilliput?

In Jonathan Swift's Gulliver’s Travels, the division between high-heeled and low-heeled shoes in Lilliput serves as a satire of the political factions in England during the 18th century. Specifically, these shoe styles represent the intense and often petty rivalries between the Whigs and Tories, the two dominant political parties of the era.1

By portraying the Lilliputians as arrogant and small-minded, Swift uses these trivial physical differences to mock the absurdity of political partisanship, suggesting that such deep-seated conflicts are often based on inconsequential distinctions rather than meaningful policy or moral principles.1