The New Ulster Movement (NUM) was a political

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

which aimed to promote moderate and non-sectarian policies and to help candidates who supported

Terence O'Neill Terence Marne O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, Privy Council of Northern Ireland, PC (NI) (10 September 1914 – 12 June 1990), was the fourth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and leader (1963–1969) of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). ...

, the Northern Ireland Prime Minister, in the election on 24 February 1969 which saw a split between candidates of the ruling

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...

. The organisation was established in early 1969 under the Chairmanship of Brian Walker, and soon had a membership of around 8,000 people. Later in the year,

Oliver Napier Sir Oliver Napier (11 July 1935 – 2 July 2011) was the first leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. In 1974 he served as the first and only Legal Minister and head of the Office of Legal Reform in the Northern Ireland power-sh ...

of the Ulster Liberal Party and Bob Cooper, formerly of the

, were appointed as joint chairmen of its political committee.Thomas G. Mitchell, ''Indispensable Traitors'' Napier and Cooper wished to establish a new

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

, a position which was strongly opposed by Walker. A meeting of the NUM was held on 30 December 1969 to decide on the way forward, and a committee was elected to investigate the feasibility of launching a new party at Easter in 1970. David Corkey, a member of the NUM, stood as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate in a by-election in South Antrim. He received 25.7% of the votes cast, and this helped build enthusiasm for the party. Napier and Cooper launched the

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. Following the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it was the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland ...

(APNI) on 21 April 1970, and used their access to the membership lists of the NUM to canvass for party members. Napier later estimated that 95–99% of NUM members left to join APNI, including eleven executive members. In October, the NUM rewrote its constitution to prevent it from intervening in elections, and redefined itself as a

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

. It dissolved in 1978.

References

{{Authority control Alliance Party of Northern Ireland Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland Political parties established in 1969 Political parties disestablished in 1978 1969 establishments in Northern Ireland 1978 disestablishments in Northern Ireland