1979 Ulster Unionist Party Leadership Election
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1979 Ulster Unionist Party Leadership Election
The 1979 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election saw James Molyneaux succeed Harry West as leader on 7 September. At a specially convened meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council at the Ulster Hall, Belfast, in early September, Molyneaux (MP for South Antrim) beat Reverend Robert Bradford (MP for Belfast South) by a three to one majority (with Austin Ardill coming a distant third).Ann Purdy, ''Molyneaux: The Long View'' (Greystone Books, 1989), p. 73. Molyneaux had previously been parliamentary leader of the United Ulster Unionist Council 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 ... since 22 October 1974 (West had lost his seat in that month's general election). Notes Ulster Unionist Party leadership elections 1979 elections in the United Kingdom 1979 elections in ...
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James Molyneaux
James Henry Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead, KBE, PC (27 August 1920 – 9 March 2015) was a Northern Irish unionist politician who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1979 to 1995, and as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Antrim from 1970 to 1983, and later Lagan Valley from 1983 to 1997. An Orangeman, he was also Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Black Institution from 1971 to 1995, and a leading member of the Conservative Monday Club. Early life Born in Killead, County Antrim, to William Molyneaux and Sarah Gilmore, Molyneaux was educated at nearby Aldergrove School. Although he was raised an Anglican, as a child he briefly attended a local Catholic primary school. When a Catholic church near his home was burnt down by loyalist arsonists in the late 1990s, Molyneaux helped to raise funds for its rebuilding. Military service Molyneaux served in the Royal Air Force between 1941 and 1946, including most of World War II . He participated ...
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Robert Bradford (Northern Irish Politician)
Robert Jonathan Bradford (8 June 1941 – 14 November 1981) was a Methodist Minister and a Vanguard Unionist and Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for the Belfast South constituency in Northern Ireland until his assassination by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 14 November 1981. Footballer Bradford was born on 8 June 1941 to a Belfast family resident in Limavady, County Londonderry, due to the wartime evacuation. Bradford's father left the family not long after his birth and his mother died so he was raised by foster parents. A talented footballer, Bradford signed for Glenavon F.C. as a teenager and his displays soon attracted the attentions of the English side Sheffield Wednesday F.C., who invited him to a trial. However, Bradford was not signed by the club and returned to Northern Ireland to resume his career with the then Belfast-based club Distillery. Religion Bradford gave up football in 1964, after deciding to train to become a Methodist minister. ...
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Austin Ardill
Captain Robert Austin Ardill MC (1917 – 12 October 2010) was a Northern Irish unionist politician. Biography Ardill was born in Belfast and educated at Coleraine Academical Institution. He later worked as the managing director of a feedstuffs company. He served in the Royal Irish Fusiliers from 1939 to 1946, winning the Military Cross for his bravery on the Greek island of Leros and retiring as a captain. He was a prisoner of war for 18 months before being freed by Allied troops after the D-Day landings. He also served as chairman of the Irish Temperance League. After the war he became involved with the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and was elected as a member of Larne Rural District Council. In 1965 he was elected as a member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, representing Carrick. He was opposed to the political reform programme of the Prime Minister Terence O'Neill and as a result lost the UUP nomination for Carrick in 1969 to Anne Dickson. Subsequently, he bec ...
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Harry West
Henry William West (27 March 1917 – 5 February 2004) was a politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 1974 until 1979. Career to Stormont West was born in County Fermanagh and educated at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen. He worked as a farmer, taking an interest in local government, but it was not until 1954 that he entered Stormont as member for the Enniskillen seat, succeeding Thomas Nelson. In 1960 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture in the government of Lord Brookeborough, which he was to retain under the leadership of Terence O'Neill. He became one of a number of Stormont MPs critical of O'Neill's conciliatory approach towards Nationalists and in 1969 he had the whip withdrawn, along with William Craig. In 1971 the whip was restored under the new Ulster Unionist leader and Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Brian Faulkner. West became Minister of Agriculture once more and retained that position until the Stormont go ...
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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 movement. Following the partition of Ireland, it was the governing party of Northern Ireland 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, and the Alliance Party. The party has been unrepresented in Westmins ...
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Ulster Unionist Council
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 movement. Following the partition of Ireland, it was the governing party of Northern Ireland 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, and the Alliance Party. The party has been unrepresented in Westminst ...
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Ulster Hall
The Ulster Hall is a concert hall and grade A listed building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated on Bedford Street in Belfast city centre, the hall hosts concerts, classical recitals, craft fairs and political party conferences. History Built in 1859 and opened in 1862, the hall's purpose was to provide the expanding city of Belfast with a multi-purpose venue of sufficient size. It was designed by William J. Barre (also responsible for the Albert Clock) for the Ulster Hall Company. On its opening night on 12 May 1862, the hall was described by the local press as: stand ngunexcelled, and all but unrivalled, as an edifice for the production of musical works. ... the hall is a great and unmingled success, and the public, no less than the proprietors, may feel the utmost gratification at a result at once so pleasant and so rare.(''The Belfast News Letter'', 1862) a music hall fit for the production of any composition, and for the reception of any artist, however e ...
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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 and the second-largest in Ireland. It had a population of 345,418 . By the early 19th century, Belfast was a major port. It played an important role in the Industrial Revolution in Ireland, briefly becoming the biggest linen-producer in the world, earning it the nickname "Linenopolis". By the time it was granted city status in 1888, it was a major centre of Irish linen production, tobacco-processing and rope-making. Shipbuilding was also a key industry; the Harland and Wolff shipyard, which built the , was the world's largest shipyard. Industrialisation, and the resulting inward migration, made Belfast one of Ireland's biggest cities. Following the partition of Ireland in 1921, Belfast became the seat of government for Northern Ireland ...
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South Antrim (UK Parliament Constituency)
South Antrim ( ga, Aontroim Theas) is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Paul Girvan of the Democratic Unionist Party. Boundaries From 1885, this constituency was one of four county divisions of the former Antrim constituency. It comprised the baronies of Massereene Upper, Massereene Lower, that part of the barony Antrim Upper in the parish of Antrim, that part of the barony of Toome Upper not in the constituency of Mid Antrim, that part of the barony of Belfast Upper not in the constituency of East Antrim, and so much of the Parliamentary Borough of Belfast as was in the County of Antrim. It returned one Member of Parliament. In 1922, it was merged into a new Antrim constituency. The seat was re-created in 1950 when the old Antrim two MP constituency was abolished as part of the final move to single member seats. The seat was reduced in size for the 1974 general election, with the town of Carrickfergus and the areas b ...
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Robert Bradford (Northern Ireland Politician)
Robert Jonathan Bradford (8 June 1941 – 14 November 1981) was a Methodist Minister and a Vanguard Unionist and Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for the Belfast South constituency in Northern Ireland until his assassination by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 14 November 1981. Footballer Bradford was born on 8 June 1941 to a Belfast family resident in Limavady, County Londonderry, due to the wartime evacuation. Bradford's father left the family not long after his birth and his mother died so he was raised by foster parents. A talented footballer, Bradford signed for Glenavon F.C. as a teenager and his displays soon attracted the attentions of the English side Sheffield Wednesday F.C., who invited him to a trial. However, Bradford was not signed by the club and returned to Northern Ireland to resume his career with the then Belfast-based club Distillery. Religion Bradford gave up football in 1964, after deciding to train to become a Methodist minister. Afte ...
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Belfast South (UK Parliament Constituency)
Belfast South is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Claire Hanna of the SDLP. Boundaries 1885–1918: In the Borough of Belfast, that part of Cromac ward not in the constituency of Belfast East, that part of St. George's ward not in the constituency of Belfast West, and the townlands of Malone Lower and that part of Malone Upper within the parliamentary borough in the parish of Shankill. 1922–1974: The County Borough of Belfast wards of Cromac, Ormeau, and Windsor. 1974–1983: The County Borough of Belfast wards of Cromac, Ormeau, and Windsor, the District of Lisburn electoral divisions of Ardmore, Dunmurry, Finaghy, and Upper Malone, and the Rural District of Hillsborough electoral divisions of Breda and Edenderry. 1983–1997: The District of Belfast wards of Ballynafeigh, Cromac, Donegall, Finaghy, Malone, Ormeau, Rosetta, St George's, Stranmillis, University, Upper Malone, Willowfield, and Windsor. 1997–2010: ...
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United Ulster Unionist Council
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 January 1974. It was organised by Harry West and constituted a formal electoral pact between his Ulster Unionist Party, the Democratic Unionist Party and the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party. West arranged the movement, having gained control of the UUP from Brian Faulkner, to galvanise opposition to power sharing arrangements that were being put in place and to run against Faulkner's Pro-Assembly Unionists who later formed themselves into the Unionist Party of Northern Ireland.W.D. Flackes & Sydney Elliott, ''Northern Ireland: A Political Directory 1968–1993'', Blackstaff Press, 1994, p. 346 Development The UUUC first tested its political credentials in the 1974 general election and the party captured 11 out of 12 Northern Irish seats (7 U ...
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