The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a
unionist political party in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the
Irish Unionist Alliance in
Ulster. Under
Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the
Irish Home Rule movement. Following the
partition of Ireland, it was the
governing party of
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
between 1921 and 1972. It was supported by most unionist voters throughout the conflict known as
the Troubles, during which time it was often referred to as the Official Unionist Party (OUP).
Under
David Trimble, the party helped negotiate the
Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which ended the conflict. Trimble served as the first
First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002. However, it was overtaken as the largest unionist party
in 2003 by the
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). As of 2022 it is the fourth-largest party in the
Northern Ireland Assembly, after the DUP,
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gr ...
, and the
Alliance Party. The party has been unrepresented in Westminster since losing its two seats
in 2017. Since 2021 the party has been led by
Doug Beattie
Douglas Ricardo Beattie (born 13 October 1965) is a Northern Irish politician and former member of the British Army, who has been leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since 27 May 2021. He has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembl ...
.
Between 1905 and 1972, its
peers and MPs took the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
whip at
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
, in effect functioning as the Northern Irish branch of the party. This arrangement came to an end in 1972 over disagreements over the
Sunningdale Agreement. The two parties have remained institutionally separate ever since, with the exception of the 2009–2012
Ulster Conservatives and Unionists electoral alliance.
History
1880s to 1921
The Ulster Unionist Party traces its formal existence back to the foundation of the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905. Before that, however, there had been a less formally organised
Irish Unionist Alliance (IUA) since the late 19th century, usually dominated by unionists from
Ulster. Modern organised unionism properly emerged after
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-con ...
's introduction in 1886 of the first of three
Home Rule Bills in response to demands by the
Irish Parliamentary Party. The IUA was an alliance of Irish Conservatives and
Liberal Unionists, the latter having split from the
Liberal Party over the issue of
home rule
Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wi ...
. It was the merger of these two parties in 1912 that gave rise to the current name of the
Conservative and Unionist Party
The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...
, to which the UUP was formally linked (to varying degrees) until 1985.
From the beginning, the party had a strong association with the
Orange Order, a
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
fraternal organisation. The original composition of the Ulster Unionist Council was 25% Orange delegates; however, this was reduced through the years. Although most unionist support was based in
Ulster, within the geographic area that later became
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
, there were at one time unionist enclaves throughout all of Ireland. Unionists in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
and
County Wicklow and in parts of
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...
were particularly influential. The initial leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party all came from outside what would later become Northern Ireland; men such as
Colonel Saunderson,
Viscount (later the Earl of) Midleton and the Dubliner
Sir Edward Carson, all members of the Irish Unionist Alliance. However, after the
Irish Convention failed to reach an understanding on home rule and with the
Partition of Ireland under the
Government of Ireland Act 1920, Irish unionism in effect split. Many southern unionist politicians quickly became reconciled with the new
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
, sitting in its
Seanad or joining its political parties. The existence of a separate Ulster Unionist Party became entrenched as the party took control of the new
Government of Northern Ireland.
The leadership of the UUP was taken by Sir Edward Carson in 1910. Throughout his 11-year leadership, he fought a sustained campaign against Irish Home Rule, including being involved in the formation of the
Ulster Volunteers (UVF) in 1912. At the
1918 general election, Carson switched constituencies from his former seat of
Dublin University
The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Du ...
to
Belfast Duncairn. Carson strongly opposed the partition of Ireland and the end of unionism as an all-Ireland political force, so he refused the opportunity to be
Prime Minister of Northern Ireland or even to sit in the
Northern Ireland House of Commons
The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was the lower house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created under the ''Government of Ireland Act 1920''. The upper house in the bicameral parliament was called the Senate. It was abolished wi ...
, citing a lack of connection with the place. The leadership of the UUP and, subsequently, Northern Ireland, was taken by
Sir James Craig
James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon PC PC (NI) DL (8 January 1871 – 24 November 1940), was a leading Irish unionist and a key architect of Northern Ireland as a devolved region within the United Kingdom. During the Home Rule Crisis of 191 ...
.
The Stormont era: Part of the Conservative Party
1920–1963
Until almost the very end of its period of power in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
, the UUP was led by a combination of
landed gentry (
The 1st Viscount Brookeborough,
Hugh MacDowell Pollock
Hugh MacDowell Pollock, CH, PC(Ire) (16 November 1852 – 15 April 1937) was an Ulster Unionist member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1921 until his death in 1937, being appointed as the country's first Minister of Finance.
Lif ...
and
James Chichester-Clark),
aristocracy (
Terence O'Neill) and gentrified industrial magnates (
The 1st Viscount Craigavon and
J. M. Andrews
John Miller Andrews, (17 July 1871 – 5 August 1956) was the second Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1940 to 1943.
Family life
Andrews was born in Comber, County Down, Ireland in 1871, the eldest child in the family of four sons and o ...
– nephew of
The 1st Viscount Pirrie). Only its last
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
,
Brian Faulkner, was from a middle-class background. During this era, all but 11 of the 149 UUP Stormont MPs were members of the Orange Order, as were all Prime Ministers.
The 1st Viscount Craigavon governed Northern Ireland from its inception until his death in November 1940, and is buried with his wife by the east wing of
Parliament Buildings at
Stormont. His successor, J. M. Andrews, was heavily criticised for appointing octogenarian veterans of Lord Craigavon's administration to
his cabinet. His government was also believed to be more interested in protecting the statue of Carson at the Stormont Estate than the citizens of Belfast during the
Belfast blitz. A backbench revolt in 1943 resulted in his resignation and replacement by
Sir Basil Brooke (later
Viscount Brookeborough
Viscount Brookeborough, of Colebrooke in the County of Fermanagh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1952 for the Ulster Unionist politician and Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Captain The Rt. Hon. Sir Bas ...
), although Andrews was recognised as leader of the party until 1946.
Lord Brookeborough, despite having felt that Craigavon had held on to power for too long, was Prime Minister for one year longer. During this time he was on more than one occasion called to meetings of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland to explain his actions, most notably following the 1947 Education Act which made the government responsible for the payment of
National Insurance
National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their fami ...
contributions of teachers in Catholic Church-controlled schools.
Ian Paisley called for Brookeborough's resignation in 1953 when he refused to sack
Brian Maginess and
Clarence Graham
Sir Clarence Johnston Graham, 1st Baronet (8 May 1900 – 22 December 1966) was a businessman and an Ulster Unionist Party politician in Northern Ireland.
Background
The son of John Graham JP and Sarah (nee Porter) Graham was educated at Banbr ...
, who had given speeches supporting re-admitting Catholics to the UUP. He retired in 1963 and was replaced by
Terence O'Neill, who emerged ahead of other candidates,
Jack Andrews and Faulkner.
1963–1972
In the 1960s, identifying with the
civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
of
Martin Luther King Jr. and encouraged by attempts at reform under O'Neill, various organisations campaigned for civil rights, calling for changes to the system for allocating public housing and the voting system for the local government franchise, which was restricted to (disproportionately Protestant)
rate payers. O'Neill had pushed through some reforms but in the process the Ulster Unionists became strongly divided. At the
1969 Stormont general election UUP candidates stood on both pro- and anti-O'Neill platforms. Several independent pro-O'Neill unionists challenging his critics, while the
Protestant Unionist Party
The Protestant Unionist Party (PUP)Not to be confused with the Progressive Unionist Party. was a unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1966 to 1971. It was the forerunner of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and eme ...
of Ian Paisley mounted a hard-line challenge. The result proved inconclusive for O'Neill, who resigned a short time later. His resignation was probably caused by a speech of
James Chichester-Clark who stated that he disagreed with the timing, but not the principle, of universal suffrage at local elections.
Chichester-Clark won the
leadership election to replace O'Neill and swiftly moved to implement many of O'Neill's reforms. Civil disorder continued to mount, culminating in August 1969 when Catholic
Bogside
The Bogside is a neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry, Northern Ireland. The large gable-wall murals by the Bogside Artists, Free Derry Corner and the Gasyard Féile (an annual music and arts festival held in a former gasyard) are pop ...
residents clashed with the
Royal Ulster Constabulary in
Derry because of an
Apprentice Boys of Derry march, sparking days of riots. Early in 1971, Chichester-Clark flew to London to request further military aid following the
1971 Scottish soldiers' killings
The 1971 Scottish soldiers' killings took place in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. On 10 March 1971, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) shot dead three off-duty British Army, British soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Royal Highland ...
. When this was all but refused, he resigned to be
replaced by Brian Faulkner.
Faulkner's government struggled though 1971 and into 1972. After
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday may refer to:
Historical events Canada
* Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
* Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence aga ...
, the British Government threatened to remove control of the security forces from the devolved government. Faulkner reacted by resigning with his entire cabinet, and the British Government suspended, and eventually abolished, the
Northern Ireland Parliament, replacing it with
Direct Rule.
The liberal unionist group, the
New Ulster Movement, which had advocated the policies of Terence O'Neill, left and formed the
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland in April 1970, while the emergence of Ian Paisley's
Protestant Unionist Party
The Protestant Unionist Party (PUP)Not to be confused with the Progressive Unionist Party. was a unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1966 to 1971. It was the forerunner of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and eme ...
continued to draw off some working-class and more
Ulster loyalist support.
1972–1995
In June 1973 the UUP won a majority of seats in the new
Northern Ireland Assembly, but the party was divided on policy. The
Sunningdale Agreement, which led to the formation of a power-sharing Executive under Ulster Unionist leader
Brian Faulkner, ruptured the party. In the 1973 elections to the Executive the party found itself divided, a division that did not formally end until January 1974 with the triumph of the anti-Sunningdale faction. Faulkner was then overthrown, and he set up the
Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (UPNI). The Ulster Unionists were then led by
Harry West from 1974 until 1979. In the
February 1974 general election, the party participated in the
United Ulster Unionist Coalition
The United Ulster Unionist Council (also known as the United Ulster Unionist Coalition) was a body that sought to bring together the Unionists opposed to the Sunningdale Agreement in Northern Ireland.
Formation
The UUUC was established in Januar ...
(UUUC) with
Vanguard
The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.
History
The vanguard derives f ...
and the
Democratic Unionist Party, successor to the Protestant Unionist Party. The result was that the UUUC won 11 out of 12 parliamentary seats in Northern Ireland on a fiercely anti-Sunningdale platform, although they barely won 50% of the overall popular vote. This result was a fatal blow for the Executive, which soon collapsed.
Up until 1972 the UUP sat with the Conservative Party at
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
, traditionally taking the Conservative parliamentary
whip. To all intents and purposes the party functioned as the Northern Ireland branch of the Conservative Party. In 1972, in protest over the prorogation of the
Parliament of Northern Ireland, the Westminster Ulster Unionist MPs withdrew from the alliance. The party remained affiliated to the
National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations
The National Conservative Convention (NCC), is the most senior body of the Conservative Party's voluntary wing. The National Convention effectively serves as the Party's internal Parliament, and is made up of its 800 highest-ranking Party Office ...
, but in 1985, withdrew from it as well, in protest over the
Anglo-Irish Agreement. Subsequently, the Conservative Party has
organised separately in Northern Ireland, with little electoral success.
Under West's leadership, the party recruited
Enoch Powell, who became Ulster Unionist MP for
South Down in
October 1974 after defecting from the Conservatives. Powell advocated a policy of 'integration', whereby Northern Ireland would be administered as an integral part of the United Kingdom. This policy divided both the Ulster Unionists and the wider unionist movement, as Powell's ideas conflicted with those supporting a restoration of devolved government to Northern Ireland. The party also made gains upon the break-up of the
Vanguard Party and its merger back into the Ulster Unionists. The separate
United Ulster Unionist Party
The United Ulster Unionist Party (UUUP) was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1975 and 1984.
It emerged from a division in the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party in the late 1970s. Vanguard had traditional ...
(UUUP) emerged from the remains of Vanguard but folded in the early 1980s, as did the UPNI. In both cases the main beneficiaries of this were the Ulster Unionists, now under the leadership of
James Molyneaux (1979–95).
Trimble leadership
David Trimble led the party between 1995 and 2005. His support for the
Belfast Agreement caused a rupture within the party into pro-agreement and anti-agreement factions. Trimble served as
First Minister of Northern Ireland in the power-sharing administration created under the
Belfast Agreement.
Unusually for a unionist party, the UUP had a Catholic
MLA in the
Northern Ireland Assembly,
Sir John Gorman
Sir John Reginald Gorman CVO, CBE, MC, DL (1 February 1923 – 26 May 2014) was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who served as a Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2000 to 2002, and was a Member of the Northern Ir ...
until the 2003 election. In March 2005, the Orange Order voted to end its official links with the UUP. Trimble faced down Orange Order critics who tried to suspend him for his attendance at a Catholic funeral for a young boy killed by the
Real IRA in the
Omagh bombing. In a sign of unity, Trimble and
President of Ireland Mary McAleese walked into the church together.
In the 2001 general election, the Ulster Unionists lost a number of seats belonging to UUP stalwarts; for example,
John Taylor, the former deputy leader of the party, lost his seat of
Strangford
Strangford (from Old Norse ''Strangr fjörðr'', meaning "strong sea-inlet") is a small village at the mouth of Strangford Lough, on the Lecale peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 475 at the 2001 Census.
On the ...
to
Iris Robinson
Iris Robinson (née Collins; born 6 September 1949) is a former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland.
She is married to Peter Robinson, who was First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2008 to 2016.
Robinson was fir ...
.
The party's misfortunes continued at the 2005 election. The party held six seats at Westminster immediately before the 2005 general election, down from seven after the previous general election following the defection of
Jeffrey Donaldson
Sir Jeffrey Mark Donaldson (born 7 December 1962) is a Northern Irish politician who has served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since June 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lagan Valley since 1997, and leade ...
in 2004. The election resulted in the loss of five of their six seats. The only seat won by an Ulster Unionist was North Down, by
Sylvia Hermon
Sylvia Eileen, Lady Hermon (née Paisley; born 11 August 1955) is a retired Unionist politician from Northern Ireland. She served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of North Down from 2001 to 2019.
She was first elected fo ...
, who had won the seat in the 2001 general election from Robert McCartney of
United Kingdom Unionist Party
The UK Unionist Party (UKUP) was a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008 that opposed the Good Friday Agreement. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest th ...
. David Trimble himself lost his seat in
Upper Bann and resigned as party leader soon after. The ensuing
leadership election was won by
Reg Empey.
Empey leadership
In May 2006 UUP leader Empey attempted to create a new assembly group that would have included
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is a minor unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979. Linked to the Ulster Volun ...
(PUP) leader
David Ervine. The PUP is the political wing of the illegal
Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Many in the UUP, including the last remaining MP,
Sylvia Hermon
Sylvia Eileen, Lady Hermon (née Paisley; born 11 August 1955) is a retired Unionist politician from Northern Ireland. She served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of North Down from 2001 to 2019.
She was first elected fo ...
, were opposed to the move. The link was in the form of a new group called the 'Ulster Unionist Party Assembly Group' whose membership was the 24 UUP MLAs and Ervine. Empey justified the link by stating that under the
d'Hondt method
The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highes ...
for allocating ministers in the Assembly, the new group would take a seat in the Executive from Sinn Féin.
Following a request for a ruling from the DUP's
Peter Robinson, the Speaker ruled that the UUPAG was not a political party within the meaning of the
Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets out how political parties, elections and referendums are to be regulated in the United Kingdom. It formed an important ...
.
The party did poorly in the
2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election. The party retained 18 of its seats within the assembly. Empey was the only leader of one of the four main parties not to be re-elected on first preference votes alone in the Assembly elections of March 2007.
In July 2008, the UUP and Conservative Party announced that a joint working group had been established to examine closer ties. On 26 February 2009, the Ulster Unionist Executive and area council of Northern Ireland Conservatives agreed to field joint candidates in future elections to the House of Commons and European Parliament under the name "
Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force
The Ulster Conservatives and Unionists, officially registered as the ''Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force'' (''UCUNF''), was an electoral alliance in Northern Ireland between the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Conservative ...
" (UCUNF). The agreement meant that Ulster Unionist MPs could have sat in a Conservative Government, renewing the relationship that had broken down in 1974 over the
Sunningdale Agreement and in 1985 over the
Anglo-Irish Agreement.
The UUP's sole remaining MP at the time, Sylvia Hermon, opposed the agreement, stating she would not be willing to stand under the UCUNF banner.
In February 2010, Hermon confirmed that she would not be seeking a nomination as a UCUNF candidate for the forthcoming general election. On 25 March 2010, she formally resigned from the party and announced that she would be standing as an independent candidate at the general election. As a result, the UUP were left without representation in the House of Commons for the first time since the party's creation. At the
2010 general election, UCUNF won no seats in Northern Ireland (while Hermon won hers as an independent). The UCUNF label was not used again.
Following the election, Empey resigned as leader. He was replaced by
Tom Elliott Thomas or Tom Elliott may refer to:
* Thomas Elliott (footballer) (1890–?), English footballer
* Thomas Elliott (Australian cricketer) (1879–1939), Australian cricketer
* Thomas Elliott (New Zealand cricketer) (1867–?), New Zealand cricket ...
as party leader in the subsequent
leadership election. During the leadership election, it emerged that a quarter of the UUP membership came from
Fermanagh and South Tyrone, the constituency of Elliott. The Dublin-based political magazine, ''
the Phoenix'', described Elliott as a "blast from the past" and said that his election signified "a significant shift to the right" by the UUP. Shortly after his election, three 2010 general election candidates resigned: Harry Hamilton, Paula Bradshaw and
Trevor Ringland. Bradshaw and Hamilton subsequently joined the Alliance Party.
2011–2021
The party further declined in the 2011 Assembly elections. It lost two seats and won fewer votes than the nationalist
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) (although it won more seats than the SDLP) and two of its candidates, Bill Manwaring and Lesley Macaulay, subsequently joined the Conservative Party. In addition, east of the Bann, it lost seats to the Alliance Party. It was also overtaken by Alliance on Belfast City Council. In November 2011, the Conservative Party chairman,
Lord Feldman, wrote to Elliott to propose a formal and permanent merger of the two parties. The proposal, which had the backing of
David Cameron, would have seen the UUP form the backbone of a new party called the Northern Ireland Conservative and Unionist Party (NICUP). Elliott rejected the merger and called the proposed dissolution of the UUP "unacceptable".
Tom Elliott was criticised for comments he made in his victory speech where he described elements of Sinn Féin as "scum". Elliott resigned in March 2012 saying some people had not given him a 'fair opportunity' to develop and progress many party initiatives.
Mike Nesbitt was elected leader on 31 March 2012, beating the only other candidate,
John McCallister
John McCallister (born 20 February 1972) is a Northern Irish Unionist politician. In 2007, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly as an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) member for South Down. On 14 February 2013, McCallister announced th ...
, by 536 votes to 129.
In the
2014 European election Jim Nicholson held his MEP seat, although his percentage of the vote decreased to 13.3% (-3.8%). The party gained 15 seats in the
local elections
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct v ...
that same day. They polled 16.1% (+0.9%), making it the only party to increase its vote share.
At the
2015 general election, the UUP returned to Westminster, gaining the South Antrim seat from the DUP and Fermanagh & South Tyrone (where they had an electoral pact with the DUP not standing) from Sinn Féin.
In 2016, the UUP and the SDLP decided not to accept the seats on the
Northern Ireland Executive to which they would have been entitled and to form an official opposition to the executive. This marked the first time that a
devolved government in Northern Ireland did not include the UUP.
In the 2016
European Union referendum the UUP was the only unionist party to support the remain campaign, the UUP Executive passing a motion on 5 March 2016 that the party "believes that on balance Northern Ireland is better remaining in the European Union, with the UK Government pressing for further reform and a return to the founding principle of free trade, not greater political union. The Party respects that individual members may vote for withdrawal."
At the
2017 general election the UUP lost both of its Commons seats, losing South Antrim to the DUP and Fermanagh & South Tyrone to Sinn Féin. The party polled 10.3% (-5.7%) and failed to take any other seats.
In the
2019 local elections the UUP polled 14.1% (-2.0) winning 75 council seats, 13 fewer than in 2014.
They lost their single MEP at the
2019 European Parliament elections following the retirement of Jim Nicholson.
Danny Kennedy stood as the UUP candidate polling 9.3% (-4.0%).
Steve Aiken
Stephen Ronald Aiken (born 16 June 1962) is a Northern Irish politician, who served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2019 to 2021, and was Chief Whip of the UUP from 2017 to 2019.
Aiken has been a Member of the Northern Ire ...
succeeded
Robin Swann
Robin Swann (born 24 September 1971) is a politician from Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland's
Minister of Health from Jan 2020 to Oct 2022, he was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 2017 to 2019. as leader in November 2019.
The party increased its vote share to 11.7% (+1.4%) in the
2019 general election, but failed to re-gain a seat. Their best result was in
Fermanagh and South Tyrone, where Tom Elliott lost to Sinn Féin by 57 votes. The UUP currently has no representation in the House of Commons.
Beattie leadership
Steve Aiken resigned on 8 May 2021, and
Doug Beattie
Douglas Ricardo Beattie (born 13 October 1965) is a Northern Irish politician and former member of the British Army, who has been leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since 27 May 2021. He has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembl ...
was elected as
leader
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...
on 17 May 2021. Beattie, a former soldier, is perceived as a progressive unionist, and it was predicted that, following his election as leader, the party would reclaim some of the centre-ground which they had lost to the Alliance Party.
After Beattie became leader, a number of new members joined the party including former
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
PUP councillor Julie-Anne Corr-Johnston,
Derry and Strabane DUP councillor Ryan McCready, former Independent
Irish Senator Ian Marshall, Belfast Alliance Party councillor Carole Howard and Belfast PUP councillor
John Kyle
.
In October 2021,
Newry and Mourne
Newry and Mourne District Council ( ga, Comhairle an Iúir agus Mhúrn) was a local council in Northern Ireland. It merged with Down District Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Newry, Mourne a ...
UUP councillor
Harold McKee
Harold McKee is a Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) politician from Northern Ireland. He served as an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Down from 2016 to 2017, and currently is a councillor on N ...
resigned from the party because of Beattie's promotion of 'liberal values'.
In January 2022 Beattie made what some saw as a misogynistic joke about
DAERA
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is a government department in the Northern Ireland Executive, the devolved administration for Northern Ireland. The minister with overall responsibility for the department i ...
minister
Edwin Poots
Edwin Poots (born 27 April 1965) is a British politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from May to June 2021. He was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1998, and was ...
and his wife. After this it was found that he had made other controversial jokes on social media, before entering politics, and he made a statement apologizing.
The party nominated 27 candidates across all 18 constituencies for the
2022 Assembly election, an increase of three from the 2017 election. They received 96,390 votes, 11.2% of the total, down 1.7% from the
2017 Assembly election. They had 9 MLAs elected, down 1 from 2017 after
Roy Beggs Jr
Roy Beggs Jr (born 3 July 1962) is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim from 1998 until March 2022.
Beggs is the son of the politician Roy Beggs, who was the UU ...
lost his seat in
East Antrim to Alliance.
Leaders
Structure
The UUP is organised around the Ulster Unionist Council, which was from 1905 until 2004 the only legal representation of the party. Following the adoption of a new Constitution in 2004, the UUP has been an entity in its own right, however the UUC still exists as the supreme decision-making body of the Party. In autumn 2007 the delegates system was done away with, and today all UUP members are members of the Ulster Unionist Council, with entitlements to vote for the Leader, party officers and on major policy decisions.
Each constituency in Northern Ireland forms the boundary of a UUP constituency association, which is made up of branches formed along local boundaries (usually district electoral areas). There are also four 'representative bodies', the Ulster Women's Unionist Council, the
Ulster Young Unionist Council
The Young Unionists, formally known as the Ulster Young Unionist Council (UYUC), is the youth wing of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). It has in its present incarnation been in existence since 2004.
History
Attempts had been made in the 1920s to ...
, the Westminster Unionist Association (the party's Great Britain branch) and the Ulster Unionist Councillors Association. Each constituency association and representative body elects a number of delegates to the executive committee, which governs many areas of party administration such as membership and candidate selection.
The UUP maintained a formal connection with the Orange Order from its foundation until 2005, and with the
Apprentice Boys of Derry until 1975. While the party was considering structural reforms, including the connection with the Order, it was the Order itself that severed the connection in 2004. The connection with the Apprentice Boys was cut in a 1975 review of the party's structure as they had not taken up their delegates for several years beforehand.
Youth wing
The UUP's youth organisation is the
Young Unionists
The Young Unionists, formally known as the Ulster Young Unionist Council (UYUC), is the youth wing of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). It has in its present incarnation been in existence since 2004.
History
Attempts had been made in the 1920s t ...
, which was re-constituted by young activists in March 2004 as a rebrand of the Ulster Young Unionist Council. The UYUC was formed in 1946 and disbanded twice, in 1974 and 2004. There is a Young Unionist student association in
Queen's University Belfast.
Representatives
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Members of the
House of Commons as of December 2019:
The UUP lost its two seats in the
2017 election.
South Antrim went to the DUP while
Fermanagh and South Tyrone went to Sinn Féin. It failed to regain any seats at the
2019 election.
Members of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...
as of June 2017:
*
The Lord Empey
*
The Lord Rogan
Northern Ireland Assembly
Members of the
Northern Ireland Assembly as elected in May 2022:
*
Steve Aiken
Stephen Ronald Aiken (born 16 June 1962) is a Northern Irish politician, who served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2019 to 2021, and was Chief Whip of the UUP from 2017 to 2019.
Aiken has been a Member of the Northern Ire ...
–
South Antrim
*
Andy Allen –
Belfast East
*
Doug Beattie
Douglas Ricardo Beattie (born 13 October 1965) is a Northern Irish politician and former member of the British Army, who has been leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since 27 May 2021. He has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembl ...
–
Upper Bann
*
Robbie Butler
Robbie Butler (born 16 April 1972) is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland, who has been the Deputy Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since May 2021. He has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Vall ...
–
Lagan Valley
The Lagan Valley (, Ulster Scots: ''Glen Lagan'') is an area of Northern Ireland between Belfast and Lisburn. The River Lagan rises on Slieve Croob in County Down and flows generally northward discharging into Belfast Lough. For a section, the ri ...
*
Alan Chambers –
North Down
*
Tom Elliott Thomas or Tom Elliott may refer to:
* Thomas Elliott (footballer) (1890–?), English footballer
* Thomas Elliott (Australian cricketer) (1879–1939), Australian cricketer
* Thomas Elliott (New Zealand cricketer) (1867–?), New Zealand cricket ...
–
Fermanagh and South Tyrone
*
Mike Nesbitt –
Strangford
Strangford (from Old Norse ''Strangr fjörðr'', meaning "strong sea-inlet") is a small village at the mouth of Strangford Lough, on the Lecale peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 475 at the 2001 Census.
On the ...
*
John Stewart –
East Antrim
*
Robin Swann
Robin Swann (born 24 September 1971) is a politician from Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland's
Minister of Health from Jan 2020 to Oct 2022, he was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 2017 to 2019. –
North Antrim
Party leadership
Northern Ireland Executive Ministers
Party spokespersons
The current Party spokespersons include:
Party officers
The current party officers are:
Electoral performance
Westminster
Stormont
Local government
European Parliament
See also
*
Ulster Unionist Party politicians
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Ki ...
*
List of Ulster Unionist Party Peers
*
List of Ulster Unionist Party MPs
*
Ulster Unionist Chief Whip
This is a list of people who served as Chief Whip of the Ulster Unionist Party in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Parliament of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
:1886: William Ellison-M ...
*
Ulster Unionist Party Presidents and General Secretaries
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Political parties in Northern Ireland
Political parties established in 1905
Political parties in pre-partition Ireland
Conservative Party (UK) breakaway groups
Centre-right parties in the United Kingdom
Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe member parties
European Conservatives and Reformists member parties
1905 establishments in Ireland