The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a 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 led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movement. Following the partition of Ireland,it was the governing party of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. It was supported by most unionist voters throughout the conflict known as the Troubles,during which time it was often referred to as the Official Unionist Party (OUP).
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist,loyalist,British nationalist 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. It is currently led by Gavin Robinson,who initially stepped in as an interim after the resignation of Jeffrey Donaldson. It is the second-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly,and won five seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom at the 2024 election. The party has been mostly described as right-wing and socially conservative,being anti-abortion and opposing same-sex marriage. The DUP sees itself as defending Britishness and Ulster Protestant culture against Irish nationalism and republicanism. It is also Eurosceptic and supported Brexit.
The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is a minor unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast,becoming the PUP in 1979. Linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Red Hand Commando (RHC),for a time it described itself as "the only left of centre unionist party" in Northern Ireland,with its main support base in the loyalist working class communities of Belfast.
David Ervine was a Northern Irish Ulster Loyalist and politician who served as leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2002 to 2007 and was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East from 1998 to 2007. During his youth Ervine was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was imprisoned for possessing bomb-making equipment. Whilst in jail he became convinced of the benefits of a more political approach for loyalism and became involved with the PUP. As a leading PUP figure,Ervine helped to deliver the loyalist ceasefire of 1994.
The Volunteer Political Party (VPP) was a loyalist political party launched in Northern Ireland on 22 June 1974 by members of the then recently legalised Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The Chairman was Ken Gibson from East Belfast,an ex-internee and UVF chief of staff at the time. The success of the Ulster Workers Council Strike had shown some UVF leaders the political power they held and they sought to develop this potential further. The UVF had been banned by the Government of Northern Ireland in 1966,but was legalised at the same time as Sinn Féin by Labour Secretary of State Merlyn Rees in April 1974 in order to encourage a political path for Loyalist and republican paramilitary groups.
The Combined Loyalist Military Command is an umbrella body for loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s,recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee.
Billy "Hutchie" Hutchinson is a Northern Irish Ulster Loyalist politician and activist who served as leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2011 to 2023,now serving as party president. He was a Belfast City Councillor,representing Oldpark from 1997 to 2005,and then Court from 2014 to 2023. Hutchinson was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 to 2003. Before this,he had been a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was a founder of their youth wing,the Young Citizen Volunteers (YCV).
Augustus Andrew Spence was a leader of the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and a leading loyalist politician in Northern Ireland. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder,Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade.
Hugh Smyth OBE was a Northern Irish Ulster Loyalist and politician who was leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 1979 to 2002,as well as during an interim period in 2011. He was Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1994 to 1995,as well as a Belfast City Councillor for the Court and Belfast Area E DEAs from 1972 to January 2014,making him one of the longest-serving members on the Council. Smyth was awarded the Order of the British Empire in the 1996 New Year's Honours list.
Brian Ervine is a Northern Irish playwright,songwriter,teacher and former Ulster loyalist politician,based in Belfast. The Northern Irish playwright St John Ervine (1883–1971) was a distant relative. As a politician,he served as leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2010 to 2011,having succeeded Dawn Purvis. Ervine's wife,Linda,serves as the Irish Language Officer at Turas,an Irish-language programme notable for its location in east Belfast.
The 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday,5 May,following the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly at midnight on 24 March 2011. It was the fourth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998.
John Kyle is a Northern Irish unionist politician and General practitioner who was High Sheriff of Belfast from 2023 to 2024,and was a Belfast City Councillor for the Titanic DEA from 2007 to 2023. Additionally,he served as interim leader of the centre-left loyalist Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) in 2010,then as deputy leader from 2012 to 2021.
William Mitchell was a Northern Ireland loyalist,community activist and member of the Progressive Unionist Party. Mitchell was a leading member of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and served a life sentence for his part in a double murder. He later abandoned his UVF membership and took up cross-community work.
Kenneth Gibson was a Northern Irish politician who was the Chairman of the Volunteer Political Party (VPP),which he had helped to form in 1974. He also served as a spokesman and Chief of Staff of the loyalist paramilitary organisation,the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).
William Smith was a Northern Irish loyalist,paramilitary,and politician. He had been involved in Ulster loyalism in various capacities for at least forty years.
Richard Jameson,was a Northern Irish businessman and loyalist,who served as the leader of the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force's (UVF) Mid-Ulster Brigade. He was killed outside his Portadown home during a feud with the rival Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF),the breakaway organisation founded by former Mid-Ulster UVF commander Billy Wright after he and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade were officially stood down by the Brigade Staff in August 1996.
Jackie Mahood is a Northern Irish former loyalist activist with both the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). He later split from these groups and became associated with the breakaway Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF),founded in 1996 by Billy Wright.
On 3 December 2012,Belfast City Council voted to limit the days that the Union Flag flies from Belfast City Hall. Since 1906,the flag had been flown every day of the year. This was reduced to 18 specific days a year,the minimum requirement for UK government buildings. The move to limit the number of days was backed by the council's Irish nationalists while the Alliance Party abstained from the vote;it was opposed by the unionist councillors.
David Rose is a Northern Irish unionist politician who was general secretary of NI21 from its foundation in 2013 to 2014. He was additionally deputy leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2002 to 2006.
Russell Watton is a Northern Irish Ulster loyalist,politician and community activist,serving as leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) since 2023,and a Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Councillor for the Coleraine DEA since 2014. He was also PUP deputy leader between 2022 and 2023.
