Northern Ireland Unionist Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Cedric Wilson |
| Deputy leader | Patrick Roche |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Dissolved | 2008 |
| Split from | UK Unionist Party |
| Headquarters | Newtownabbey |
| Ideology | Ulster unionism Anti-Belfast Agreement |
| Political position | Right-wing to Far-right |
| Colours | Red, White, Blue |
| Website | |
| None | |
The Northern Ireland Unionist Party (NIUP) was a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland that campaigned against the Belfast Agreement.
It was formed in January 1999 as a splinter party from the UK Unionist Party (UKUP). This split was caused by disagreement between the five UKUP members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Four of the members disagreed with UKUP leader Robert McCartney's policy of resigning from the Assembly should Sinn Féin become part of the power-sharing executive. Cedric Wilson, Patrick Roche, Norman Boyd and Roger Hutchinson disagreed with McCartney, wanting to remain in the Assembly to challenge unionists in favour of the Belfast Agreement. McCartney disciplined these members in their absence and, in response, they left the UKUP and formed the NIUP. Led by Wilson, the new party argued that it had the support of the grassroots membership of the UKUP, but McCartney disputed this.
Subsequently, Hutchinson left the NIUP on 30 November 1999, sitting as an independent Unionist for a period before joining the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). He then left the DUP and unsuccessfully contested the 2003 Assembly Election as an independent Unionist.
The NIUP opposed the Belfast Agreement and the reformation of the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the Police Service Northern Ireland. They described their position as "principled unionism."
In its first electoral test, the party polled very poorly in the 2001 General Election and in local elections held on the same day, winning no Westminster or council seats. In the 2003 Assembly Election, the NIUP won no seats at all.
The NIUP consistently had a low level of support and mainly contested the constituencies represented by its four Assembly members. In 2001, it received 1,794 votes in the general election and 1,818 votes in the local elections. [1] [2] This fell to 1,350 in the 2003 Assembly election. [3] Its share of the vote across Northern Ireland was around 0.2% in each case.
The party's submission of accounts for 2004 stated that the party was "inactive" during this period and there is no evidence of subsequent activity. [4] Wilson stood as an independent candidate in the Strangford constituency at the 2007 Assembly Election where he polled 305 votes (0.8%), thus finishing last out of the fifteen candidates.
The NIUP voluntarily deregistered as a political party on 10 March 2008. [5]
| Election | Seats won | ± | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 0 / 18 |  0 | 1,794 | 0.2% |
| Election | Seats won | ± | First pref. votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 0 / 108 | 0 | 1,350 | 0.2% |
| Election | Seats won | ± | First pref. votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 0 / 582 | 0 | 1,818 | 0.23% |
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 Northern Ireland Assembly, often referred to by the metonym Stormont, is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast.
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. Following the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it was the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, holding seventeen seats, and broke through by placing third in first preference votes in the 2019 European Parliament election and polling third-highest regionally at the 2019 UK general election. The party won one of the three Northern Ireland seats in the European Parliament, and one seat, North Down, in the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
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 the 1995 North Down by-election and then further constituted to contest the 1996 elections for the Northern Ireland Forum. McCartney had previously contested the 1987 general election as an independent using the label Real Unionist.
Robert Law McCartney, KC is a Northern Irish barrister and Unionist politician who was leader of the UK Unionist Party (UKUP) from 1995 to 2008.
Sir James Alexander Kilfedder, usually known as Sir Jim Kilfedder, was a Northern Irish unionist politician.
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 brief period in 1980, it was known as the Ulster Progressive Unionist Party before it adopted the "Popular" name.
James Hugh Allister is a British Unionist politician and barrister in Northern Ireland. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) political party in 2007, leading the party since its formation. Allister has served as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim since 2011, and is the TUV’s only representative in the Assembly.
East Londonderry is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Gregory Campbell of the DUP.
South Antrim is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Paul Girvan of the Democratic Unionist Party.
Belfast North is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is John Finucane of Sinn Féin.
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 DEA from 1972 to 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.
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).
Cedric Wilson is a Northern Irish Unionist politician who served as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 1998 to 2003.
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.
Denny Vitty is a Northern Irish unionist politician.
Roger Hutchinson is a former Northern Irish unionist politician and church minister who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim from 1998 to 2003.
The 2005 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 5 May 2005 and all 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. 1,139,993 people were eligible to vote, down 51,016 from the 2001 general election. 63.49% of eligible voters turned out, down 5.1 percentage points from the last general election.
The 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Thursday, 2 March 2017. The election was held to elect members (MLAs) following the resignation of deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness in protest over the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal. McGuinness' position was not filled, and thus by law his resignation triggered an election.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
