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 party, political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand ...
in
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 ...
between 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 movem ...
(UUP) and the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
.
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 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making th ...
. 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 elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
(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, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom unde ...
. 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 the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
. 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
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
Rodney Connor
Rodney Connor (born 25 March 1951) is a retired Chief Executive of Fermanagh District Council in Northern Ireland and was a candidate for political office.
2000s
In 2000, Connor was appointed as Chief Executive of Fermanagh District Council. In ...
, 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
The Northern Ireland Conservatives is a section of the United Kingdom's Conservative Party that operates in Northern Ireland. The party won 0.03% of the vote in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election and 0.7% of the vote in the 2019 United ...
on 14 June 2012.
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 the United Kingdom
History of the Conservative Party (UK)
Organisation of the Conservative Party (UK)
Political parties established in 2009
Political party alliances in Ireland
Politics of Northern Ireland
Ulster Unionist Party