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. Currently led by Jeffrey Donaldson,it is the second largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly,and is the fifth-largest party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The party has been described as centre-right to 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.
Iris Robinson is a former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland. She is married to Peter Robinson,who was First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2008 to 2016.
Peter David Robinson is a retired Northern Irish politician who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2008 until 2016 and Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 2008 until 2015. Until his retirement in 2016,Robinson was involved in Northern Irish politics for over 40 years,being a founding member of the DUP along with Ian Paisley.
Mid Ulster is a parliamentary constituency in the UK House of Commons. The current MP is Francie Molloy of Sinn Féin.
Oliver Gibson was a founding member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and served as a DUP councillor for West Tyrone. He also served as an MLA for West Tyrone in the first session of the Assembly.
Thomas Beatty Elliott is a Northern Irish unionist politician and farmer who was leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2010 to 2012,and has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone since 2022,having previously served from 2003 to 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2015 to 2017. He was a soldier in the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) from 1982 to 1992 and its successor the Royal Irish Regiment from 1992 to 1999. He backed a Leave vote in the 2016 EU membership referendum.
Francie Molloy is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been the abstentionist Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster since 2013. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster from 1998 to 2013.
Jim Wells is a Northern Ireland politician,formerly of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Down from 1998 to 2022;he was one the longest serving MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Wells is also a former Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly,and was a councillor on Down District Council from 2001 to 2011.
Nelson McCausland is a former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician from Northern Ireland,who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Belfast from 2003 until he lost his seat in 2017. and served as Minister of Culture,Arts and Leisure (2009–2011) and subsequently Minister for Social Development (2011–2014) in the Northern Ireland Executive.
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.
Columba Barry McElduff is an Irish Sinn Féin politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the West Tyrone UK parliament constituency. He was also a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the Northern Ireland Assembly from its creation in 1998 until his election as MP in 2017. He resigned his seat on 16 January 2018 after publishing a video of himself balancing a Kingsmill loaf on his head,on the date of the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre.
Allan Bresland is a retired Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who was a Derry and Strabane Councillor for the Sperrin DEA from 2014 to 2023. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for West Tyrone from 2007 to 2011.
Paul Jonathan Givan is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Givan served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from June 2021 to February 2022,the youngest person to hold that office. Givan is the DUP's Spokesperson for Health.
Ross Hussey is a former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician in Northern Ireland. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for West Tyrone from 2011 to 2017.
Margaret Elizabeth Rosemary Barton is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician and former schoolteacher who was a Fermanagh and Omagh Councillor for the Mid Tyrone DEA from 2022 to 2023,having previously represented Erne North from 2014 to 2016. Barton was also a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2016 to 2022.
Keith Buchanan is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). He serves as the party's Chief Whip in the Northern Ireland Assembly as well as its spokesperson for Cultural Development and Loyal Order and Groups Engagement.
Jemma Dolan is an Irish Sinn Féin politician,serving as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone since 2017.
A by-election was held in the UK Parliament constituency of West Tyrone on 3 May 2018,following the resignation of Barry McElduff,who had been the Member of Parliament (MP) since 2017. McElduff had become embroiled in a social media controversy which had resulted in his suspension from Sinn Féin on 8 January. He announced his resignation on 15 January 2018.
Deborah Erskine is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician from Northern Ireland. She was elected as a councillor for Erne North in the 2019 Fermanagh and Omagh District Council election,and has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone since 11 October 2021. Erskine is the DUP Spokesperson for Promoting the Union with Young People and New Communities.
