The United Ulster Unionist Party (UUUP) was a
unionist political party which existed 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 1975 and 1984.
It emerged from a division in the
Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party
The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party (VUPP), informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1978. Led by William Craig, the party emerged from a split in the Ulster Unio ...
in the late 1970s. Vanguard had traditionally opposed the concept of compulsory power sharing with
nationalists
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
enshrined in the
Sunningdale Agreement
The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The agreement was signed at Sunningdale Park located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973. Unionist ...
, but after the failure of Sunningdale, the
Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (NICC) was an elected body set up in 1975 by the United Kingdom Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland.
For ...
was set up to provide a forum with the aim of finding a new settlement for Northern Ireland. During the proceedings the leader of Vanguard,
William Craig, proposed a voluntary coalition with the nationalist
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...
. Many in Vanguard found this anathema, including the party's deputy leader
Ernest Baird
Ernest Baird (1930 – September 2003) was a politician in Northern Ireland. Baird was born in County Donegal
in the Irish Free State but moved with his family to Belfast at an early age.
A pharmacist and political unionist, Baird became the de ...
,
Mid Ulster MP
John Dunlop and
East Belfast Convention member (and future
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 ...
leader)
Reg Empey
Reginald Norman Morgan Empey, Baron Empey, (born 26 October 1947), best known as Reg Empey, is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland, who was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2005 to 2010. He was the chairman of the ...
. They left Vanguard and formed the United Ulster Unionist Movement. Initially Baird denied that this was a party since the original aim was to create a single Unionist party. When this aim proved unattainable the UUUM relaunched as the United Ulster Unionist Party led by Baird with Empey as Deputy Leader.
Many critics highlighted the irony of the name, given that the UUUP was a breakaway from Vanguard, itself a breakaway from 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 ...
and there were many other Unionist parties in existence.
The UUUP did not prosper long. In the
1979 general election Dunlop held his seat but only due to an agreement with other unionist parties to not divide the unionist vote where a nationalist might get elected.
Elsewhere Baird stood in
Fermanagh and South Tyrone, dividing the unionist vote but polling poorly. It has been argued that it was Baird's candidacy that ensured a victory for
Frank Maguire in the seat.
The decline was evident even before the
local government elections of 1981 as 4 of the 12 UUUP councillors elected in
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
had defected to other Unionist parties (2 to UUP, 1 to DUP and 1 to the
Ulster Popular Unionist Party
The Ulster Popular Unionist Party (UPUP) was a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1980 by James Kilfedder, independent Unionist Member of Parliament for North Down, who led the party until his death in 1995. For a b ...
). The party had a miserable showing in the 1981 elections with its overall vote share declining from 2.8% in 1977 to 0.7% in 1981. It only won 5 council seats (a decline of 7 seats) and even then one of these was purely due to a quirk of the electoral system, as the party only polled 105 votes (1.6%) in Lisburn 'E' against 1,909 (30.0%) for the DUP and 1,830 (28.7%) for the UUP. However they benefited from the other two Unionist parties only putting up one candidate each and benefitted from hefty transfers to win an unlikely seat.
In 1982 a new Northern Ireland Assembly was established to provide a degree of scrutiny over the
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
. The UUUP got a derisory vote, with even Dunlop getting barely 3% of the vote in his
Mid Ulster constituency.
The party soon folded. Dunlop remained as MP for Mid Ulster until the
1983 general election but did not contest his seat. The formal end came in May 1984 when Baird dissolved the party and left it to individual members to choose which Unionist party to join in its wake.
Election results: 1979
References
{{Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland
Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland
Political parties established in 1975
Political parties disestablished in 1984
1975 establishments in Northern Ireland
Ulster loyalist organisations
Ulster unionist organisations
1984 disestablishments in Northern Ireland