The Ulster Conservatives and Unionists, officially registered as the ''Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force'' (''UCUNF''), was an

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

in Northern Ireland between the

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 ...

(UUP) and the Conservative Party.

2009 European Parliament campaign

The alliance was launched in 2009. Conservatives and Unionists candidates were first selected for the

2009 European Parliament election The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Member of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent s ...

. The first candidate to stand for election using this description was Ulster Unionist Jim Nicholson, who polled 82,893 votes, 17.0% of the total, and was elected as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP).

2010 UK general election campaign

On 24 February 2010, the alliance announced 9 of the 18 candidates who were to run in the

2010 United Kingdom general election The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, to elect 650 Members of Parliament (or MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The first to be held after the minimum age for candidates was ...

. The UUP's sole Member of Parliament (MP) from the 2005 general election, Sylvia, Lady Hermon for North Down, had expressed public dissatisfaction with the arrangement since early 2009, and left the UUP in March 2010, deciding to contest the forthcoming general election 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 ...

. As such, the alliance had no incumbent MPs. On 7 April 2010 the candidate for Fermanagh and South Tyrone,

Tom Elliott Thomas or Tom Elliott may refer to: * Thomas Elliott (footballer) (1890–?), English footballer * Thomas Elliott (Australian cricketer) (1879–1939), Australian cricketer * Thomas Elliott (New Zealand cricketer) (1867–?), New Zealand cricketer ...

, withdrew in favour of

Rodney Connor, leaving that constituency without a Unionist Party candidate. The Conservative and UUP alliance failed to gain any seats in the election. The UUP lost their only seat in North Down to Hermon's independent campaign, and Connor also lost Fermanagh and South Tyrone. Across Northern Ireland, the joint share of the vote was 15.2%.

End of the alliance

After failed calls for the UUP to disband and join the Conservatives, the Conservatives in Northern Ireland were relaunched as NI Conservatives on 14 June 2012. In October 2023, Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie attended Conservative Party conference in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Electoral results

European Parliament

Westminster

Stormont

Footnotes

External links

Vote for Change – Conservatives and Unionists
{{UK Conservative Party 2009 establishments in Northern Ireland Conservative parties in Ireland Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland Defunct political party alliances in Ireland Defunct political party alliances in the United Kingdom History of the Conservative Party (UK) Organisation of the Conservative Party (UK) Political parties established in 2009 Politics of Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party