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).
Castlereagh was a local government district with the status of borough in Northern Ireland. It merged with Lisburn City Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council,with a small amount being transferred to Belfast City Council.
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast,the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of 348,005 (2022),the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland,while being the smallest by area. Belfast City Council is the primary council of the Belfast Metropolitan Area,a grouping of six former district councils with commuter towns and overspill from Belfast,containing a total population of 579,276.
Reginald Norman Morgan Empey,Baron Empey,,best known as Reg Empey,is a Northern Irish politician who served as the acting First Minister of Northern Ireland in 2001. He was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2005 to 2010 and served as chairman of the party from 2012 to 2019. Empey was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Belfast from 1998 to 2011.
Jim RodgersOBE (b.1943) is a Northern Irish unionist politician who was Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2001 to 2002,and again from 2007 to 2008. Rodgers also served as the High Sheriff of Belfast from 2016 to 2017. A member of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP),he has been a Belfast City Councillor for the Ormiston DEA since 1993. Additionally,Rodgers is an appointed Alderman on the council.
The 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Wednesday,7 March 2007. It was the third election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties,the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin,along with the Alliance Party,increase their support,with falls in support for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
Derek Robert Hussey is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician,serving as a Derry and Strabane Councillor for the Derg DEA since 2014. Hussey was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for West Tyrone from 1998 to 2007.
David McNarry is a former Northern Irish unionist politician and Ulster Loyalist representative who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 2003 to 2016.
Fred Cobain,MBE is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician from Northern Ireland,serving as a Belfast City Councillor for the Castle DEA since 2019. He was previously an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 until 2011.
Robert Coulter was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim from 1998 to 2011. He was a prominent proponent of unionism,and was the second oldest MLA after the Rev. Ian Paisley at the time of his retirement in 2011.
William Alexander Fraser Agnew,known as Fraser Agnew,is a retired Northern Irish unionist politician who was an Antrim and Newtownabbey Councillor for the Three Mile Water DEA from 2014 to 2023. He was previously an Independent Unionist Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 to 2003.
The Northern Ireland Conservatives is a section of the United Kingdom's Conservative Party that operates in Northern Ireland. The Conservatives are the only major British party to field candidates within Northern Ireland and typically contests only a fraction of seats in elections. The party won 0.03% of the vote in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election and 0.1% of the vote in the 2024 United Kingdom General election in Northern Ireland.
Ivan Davis was a Northern Irish unionist politician. Davis was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley from 1998 to 2003.
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 2011 to 2021.
Pottinger was one of the nine district electoral areas (DEA) in Belfast,Northern Ireland from 1985 to 2014. Located in the east of the city,the district elected six members to Belfast City Council and contained the wards of Ballymacarrett,Bloomfield,Orangefield,Ravenhill,The Mount,and Woodstock.
Douglas Ricardo Beattie is a British politician and former member of the British Army,who has been leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since 27 May 2021. He has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann since 2016. He is characterised as a 'progressive' and 'liberal' unionist.
Andrew Allen is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician in Northern Ireland and a former soldier in the British Army. He served in the War in Afghanistan in 2008. He is one of the more liberal members of the party,consistently voting in favour of same-sex marriage and abortion.
Robbie Butler is a Northern Irish unionist politician,serving as Deputy Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since May 2021,and a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley since 2016.
John Stewart is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician and businessman who has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim since 2017. Stewart is Deputy Chairperson of the Assembly's Infrastructure Committee.
Castlereagh Central was one of the district electoral areas in Castlereagh,Northern Ireland which existed from 1985 to 2014. It was one of three Castlereagh DEAs until 1993,and one of four until 2014. The district elected seven members to Castlereagh Borough Council from 1985 to 1993,and six members from 1993 to 2014. It formed part of the Strangford constituency until 1997,the Strangford and Belfast East constituencies from 1997 to 2010 and the Belfast East and Belfast South constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament.
United Kingdom