The United Unionist Coalition (UUC), formerly known as the United Unionist Assembly Party, was a minor unionist political formation in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Northern Ireland Assembly

The UUC was formed by three members of the Northern Ireland Assembly who had been elected as "independent unionists" in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, and decided to form themselves into an official grouping to avail of facilities provided by the Assembly to parties. As such they were more a coalition of political expediency rather than a coherent

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

. The founders of the group, which was initially called the "United Unionist Assembly Party", were

Fraser Agnew William Alexander Fraser Agnew, known as Fraser Agnew, is a politician in Northern Ireland who was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 to 2003. After growing up in Ballyclare, Agnew studied at the University ...

, Boyd Douglas and Denis Watson (all of whom have since left the grouping). The grouping subsequently registered with the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

as the "United Unionist Coalition", a name recalling the anti-

Sunningdale Agreement The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The agreement was signed at Sunningdale Park located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973. Unioni ...

bloc of Unionist parties in the 1970s, the United Ulster Unionist Coalition. Watson subsequently joined the Democratic Unionist Party. In the 2003 Assembly elections the UUC secured only 0.4% of first preference votes and all three UUC members lost their seats. The UUC did not contest the 2007 or 2011 Assembly elections.

Local government

Following the 2005 local government elections the UUC had two elected councillors: Agnew on

Newtownabbey Borough Council Newtownabbey Borough Council was a Local Authority in County Antrim in Northern Ireland, on the north shore of Belfast Lough just immediately north of Belfast. The Council merged with Antrim Borough Council in April 2015 under local government r ...

and Douglas on Limavady Borough Council. A mid-term defection led to the party gaining one council seat in Limavady. In January 2011 Agnew left the UUC, returning to the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. 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 m ...

."Agnew comes home to UUP
", Ulster Unionist Party, 28 January 2011 Douglas joined

Traditional Unionist Voice The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. In common with all other Northern Irish unionist parties, the TUV's political programme has as its sine qua non the preservation of Northern Ireland's place ...

prior to the May 2011 Council elections (in which he held his seat). No candidate was elected on a UUC ticket. As of April 2012, the UUC has no elected representatives and is not registered with the

References

{{Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland Political parties established in 1998 Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland Ulster unionist organisations 1998 establishments in Northern Ireland