conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
and
economically liberal
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism, ...
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 ...
in
Guyana
Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
. It currently has no representation in the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
and is led by Marissa Nadir.
History
Established on 5 October 1960 by
Peter D'Aguiar
Peter Stanislaus D'Aguiar ( 1912 – 30 March 1989) was a Guyanese businessman, conservative politician, and minister of finance from 1964 to 1967.
Business career
In 1934, following the death of his father, D'Aguiar became the managing director ...
, and was initially backed by Indian leaders of the
Manpower Citizens' Association
The Manpower Citizens' Association was a trade union and political party in British Guiana.
History
The MPCA was first registered in 1937, and was initially led by Ayube Mohamed Edun.Stephen Campbell to join the party.Politics…TUF’s trek into history Stabroek News, 29 April 2010
The party first contested national elections in
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 ...
, when it received 16.4% of the vote, winning four seats, of which two were taken by Amerindians (Campbell and Teddy Melville). However, the following years saw increasing tensions between the MPCA and the ruling People's Progressive Party, together with the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers' Union (GAWU).
A strike by the GAWU in 1964 led to a period of violence known as " The Disturbances" between February and July, including bombings, arson and murder. The violence led to some of the Portuguese community leaving the country, reducing the TUF's vote share in the December 1964 elections to 12.4%, although it increased its representation to seven seats,Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', pp366-368 and become the junior partner in a coalition government with the People's National Congress (PNC). However, the coalition broke down in 1968, by which time several TUF prominent members had defected to the PNC.
In the 1968 elections the TUF's share of the vote fell to 7.4% and it was reduced to four seats. The following year, an internal conflict in the party led to the expulsion of several members in the
Rupununi
The Rupununi is a region in the south-west of Guyana, bordering the Brazilian Amazon. The Rupununi river, also known by the local indigenous peoples as ''Raponani'', flows through the Rupununi region. The name Rupununi originates from the word '' ...
district, including Melville. In the aftermath, d'Aguiar resigned as party leader and was replaced by
Marcellus Fielden Singh
Marcellus may refer to:
* Marcellus (name)
* Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Roman commander
Places
* Marcellus, Lot-et-Garonne, France
* Marcellus Township, Michigan
** Marcellus, Michigan, a village in Marcellus Township
** Marcellus Community Sch ...
. The party's support based amongst the Amerindian population was further weakened by the PNC government starting an education, integration and land transfer scheme, and by appointing Philip Duncan, an Amerindian, as a government minister.
The party did not contest any elections during the 1970s, but returned in
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 – ...
, receiving 2.9% of the vote and winning two seats. It retained the two seats in the 1985 elections, before being reduced to a single seat in
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
. Singh was replaced as leader by Manzoor Nadir in 1993. It retained its single seat in elections in
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
,
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
and
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
, but lost it in the 2011 elections when its vote share fell to 0.3%. It received the same share of the vote in
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
, again failing to win a seat.
Nadir left TUF to join the PPP, and Valerie Garrido-Lowe became leader of TUF, but upon aligning herself with the AFC, was ejected from the party.
In 2020, TUF announced they would not contest in the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
The current party leader is Marissa Nadir, daughter of former leader Manzoor Nadir.