The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is a minor unionist

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 political ideology ...

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 ...

. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of

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 Kingdo ...

, becoming the PUP in 1979. Linked to the

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaign ...

(UVF) and

Red Hand Commando The Red Hand Commando (RHC) is a small Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland that is closely linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Its aim was to combat Irish republicanism – particularly the Irish Republican Army (IR ...

(RHC), for a time it described itself as "the only

left of centre Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ce ...

unionist party" in Northern Ireland, with its main support base in the loyalist

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

communities of Belfast. Since the

Ulster Democratic Party The Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), to replace the New Ulster Political Res ...

's dissolution in 2001, the PUP has been the sole party in Northern Ireland representing paramilitary loyalism.

Party leaders

History

The party was founded by

Hugh Smyth Hugh Smyth, OBE (1941 – 12 May 2014) was a Northern Irish politician who was leader of the Progressive Unionist Party. He was a former Lord Mayor of Belfast as well as the longest serving member of Belfast City Council, having represented t ...

in the mid-1970s as the "Independent Unionist Group". In 1977, two prominent members of the

Northern Ireland Labour Party The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in Northern Ireland which operated from 1924 until 1987. Origins The roots of the NILP can be traced back to the formation of the Belfast Labour Party in 1892. William Walker stoo ...

David Overend David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and Jim McDonald, joined. Overend subsequently wrote many of the group's policy documents, incorporating much of the NILP's platform.Aaron Edwards, ''A history of the Northern Ireland Labour Party'', p.219 In 1979, the group was renamed the "Progressive Unionist Party". In 1995, shortly after the

Combined Loyalist Military Command The Combined Loyalist Military Command is an umbrella body for loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s, recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee. Bringing ...

announced a ceasefire, former UVF member

Billy Hutchinson Billy "Hutchie" Hutchinson (born 1955) is an Ulster Loyalist politician serving as the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) since 2011. He was elected to Belfast City Council in the 1997 elections. Hutchinson was a Member of the North ...

, who was jailed for the murder of two Catholics in 1974, defined the relationship between the PUP and the UVF: "The relationship is a very strict one in terms of acting as political confidants and providing political analysis for them, but it doesn't go any deeper than that." The party has had a degree of electoral success. In 1994 PUP leader

became

Lord Mayor of Belfast The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 Councillors#UnitedKingdom, councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcomin ...

, and in the 1996 elections to the Northern Ireland Forum they secured two seats, with Smyth and

David Ervine David Ervine (21 July 1953 – 8 January 2007) was a Northern Irish Ulster Loyalist politician who served as leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2002 to 2007, and was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belf ...

both being elected. The PUP supported the

Belfast Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

and in the 1998 election to the Northern Ireland Assembly they also won two seats, with Hutchinson and David Ervine elected from the Belfast North and East constituencies respectively. Hutchinson lost his seat in the 2003 election, leaving Ervine as their sole Assembly representative. This was followed by a poor showing in the Northern Ireland local election of 2005, where Smyth and Ervine were their only two members to retain their seats on local authorities, and the party now seems to be in a state of decline. Their position on the left of the political spectrum differentiates them from other unionist parties (such as 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 ...

and the Democratic Unionist Party) which are ideologically right-wing. Following a

loyalist feud A loyalist feud refers to any of the sporadic feuds which have erupted almost routinely between Northern Ireland's various loyalist paramilitary groups during and after the ethno-political conflict known as the Troubles broke out in 1969. The ...

between the UVF and

Loyalist Volunteer Force The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) is a small Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and his unit split from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) after breaking its ceasefire. Most of ...

, in which four men were murdered by the UVF in Belfast and recognition of the UVF's ceasefire was withdrawn by the British government, the PUP debated ending its "special relationship" with the UVF. This was defeated in a closed vote at the party's annual conference in October 2005. In March 2006, the Chairwoman of the PUP,

Dawn Purvis Dawn Purvis (born 22 October 1967) is a former Unionist politician in Northern Ireland, who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East from 2007 to 2011. She was previously the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party ...

, a research associate at the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

, was appointed as an independent member of the

Northern Ireland Policing Board The Northern Ireland Policing Board ( ga, Bord Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Polisin Boord'') is the police authority for Northern Ireland, charged with supervising the activities of the Police Service of Nor ...

. David Ervine died following a heart attack on 8 January 2007. On 22 January 2007 Dawn Purvis was chosen as party leader. She is the second woman to lead a unionist party in Northern Ireland (after Anne Dickson's short-lived leadership of the

Unionist Party of Northern Ireland The Unionist Party of Northern Ireland was a political party founded by Brian Faulkner in September 1974. Formation The party emerged following splits in the Ulster Unionist Party in 1973 and 1974 over the British government's white paper ''Nor ...

following

Brian Faulkner Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick, (18 February 1921 – 3 March 1977), was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, from March 1971 until his resignation in March 1972. He was also the chief executive ...

's retirement). Dr John Kyle was co-opted on to

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the ...

to fill Ervine's seat. The party did not field any candidates for the 2010 general elections - party members were encouraged to vote for a candidate of their choice.

Assembly elections, March 2007

The election was for 108 seats spread evenly across 18 constituencies. The PUP fielded three candidates: Elaine Martin in North Down, Andrew Park in Belfast South and

in Belfast East. Overall the party polled 3,822 votes or 0.6% of the votes cast in Northern Ireland, down 0.6% from the elections of 2003. Dawn Purvis was elected to represent Belfast East, polling 3,045 votes (10.3%), finishing 5th out of the 15 candidates.

2010 resignations and relationship with UVF/RHC

In June 2010, Dawn Purvis resigned as leader, and as a member, of the party because of its relationship with the UVF and a recent murder attributed to that group. On 28 August 2010 the former deputy leader, David Rose, resigned from the party. He cited the recent murder attributed to the UVF and his belief that the party was "becoming increasingly conservative in outlook. During a meeting in Belfast on 29 September 2010, members of the party agreed to maintain its relationship with the Ulster Volunteer Force and the

. Despite these links, party leader Billy Hutchinson acknowledges that most UVF members vote for the larger Democratic Unionist Party.

Assembly elections, May 2011

The election was for 108 seats spread evenly across 18 constituencies. The party failed to regain the East Belfast seat and are unrepresented in the Assembly. Leader

Brian Ervine Brian Ervine (born October 1951, Belfast) is a playwright, songwriter and teacher living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Northern Irish playwright St John Ervine (1883–1971) was a distant relative. In October 2010 he succeeded Dawn Purvis as ...

resigned soon after the election and was replaced by veteran west Belfast activist

in October 2011.

Notable members

Former UVF member Billy Giles, who spent 14 years in the

Maze Prison Her Majesty's Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as The Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house alleged paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to Sep ...

for a sectarian killing, was part of the PUP's negotiating team at the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

in April 1998.Taylor, Peter (1999). ''Loyalists''. London: Bloomsbury. p.8 Others involved in this process included

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...

, David Ervine, Jim McDonald, William 'Billy' Greer,

Winston Churchill Rea Winston Churchill Rea (born 1950 or 1951), known as Winkie Rea, is a Northern Irish former loyalist paramilitary commander who was the former leader of the Red Hand Commando (RHC) loyalist paramilitary organisation that was in Northern Ireland du ...

and William "Plum" Smyth; all former UVF and Red Hand Commando members.

Electoral performance

UK general elections

1997 UK general election

2001 UK general election

Northern Ireland Assembly

References

External links

http://www.pupni.com/PUP Manifesto - Assembly Elections 2003 - "How long are you prepared to wait?"
{{Authority control 1979 establishments in Northern Ireland Democratic socialist parties in Europe Political parties established in 1979 Political parties in Northern Ireland Socialist parties in Ireland Socialist parties in the United Kingdom Ulster unionist organisations Ulster Volunteer Force