The Ulster Popular Unionist Party (UPUP) was a unionist political party in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. It was founded in 1980 by James Kilfedder,

independent Unionist Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for British unionism (not to be confused with trade unionism). It is most popularly associated with candidates in electi ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for North Down, who led the party until his death in 1995. For a brief period in 1980, it was known as the Ulster Progressive Unionist Party before it adopted the "Popular" name.

History

In the

1981 Northern Ireland local elections Elections for local government were held 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, th ...

, the party took three seats on

North Down Borough Council North Down Borough Council was a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ards Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become North Down and Ards District Council. Its m ...

and two seats on

Ards Borough Council Ards Borough Council was the local authority of Ards in Northern Ireland. It merged with North Down Borough Council North Down Borough Council was a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ards Borough Council in M ...

. Two of these were in North Down 'Area B', where sitting councillor George Green, a former

Vanguard Progressive Unionist 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 ...

member who had been elected to the 1975

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. F ...

, had joined the party. The other, Gladys McIntyre, was Mayor of Ards in 1985-86. Kilfedder won a seat for the party in North Down at the

1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly elections were held on 20 October 1982 in an attempt to re-establish devolution and power-sharing in Northern Ireland. Although the Northern Ireland Assembly officially lasted until 1986 (and was seen as bei ...

. Only a minority of his votes transferred to his running mate, George Green, who missed out on taking a second seat by just six votes. Kilfedder was subsequently elected Speaker of the Assembly. Kilfedder held his seat in the UK Parliament at the 1983 general election with a large majority, but fared less well when he stood in the 1984 European election, taking only 2.9% of the first preference votes. A unionist pact enabled Kilfedder to easily win a by-election in 1986, when he joined the other unionist MPs in resigning in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement. A challenge from

Bob McCartney Robert McCartney was a Scottish footballer who played as a defender. He began and ended his senior career with Leith Athletic, spending his prime years at Heart of Midlothian where he won the Scottish Cup in 1896 and the Scottish Football Le ...

, who stood as a "Real Unionist", led to a close election in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

that Kilfedder ultimately won. He then beat a

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 ...

opponent in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

. The party was reduced to three councillors in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, and remained at this level until Kilfedder's death in 1995. George Green had defected to the Conservative Party before

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

but the party compensated by gaining a seat in the Dundonald area of Castlereagh. Following Kilfedder's death, the three UPUP councillors went their separate ways, Valerie Kinghan to the newly formed

UK Unionist Party The UK Unionist Party (UKUP) was a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008 that opposed the Good Friday Agreement. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest th ...

. Thomas Jeffers to the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

and Cecil Braniff setting up a short-lived independent DUP. No party member contested the North Down by-election resulting from his death.

Electoral performance

UK general elections

Northern Ireland Assembly elections

European Parliament elections

Local elections

References

{{Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland 1980 establishments in Northern Ireland 1995 disestablishments in Northern Ireland Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland History of Northern Ireland Ulster unionist organisations Political parties established in 1980 Political parties disestablished in 1995