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113-425: The Ulster Unionist Labour Association was made up of trade unionists and Ulster Unionists and was founded by Carson along with J. M. Andrews as a means of instigating a purge from the local trade union movement of 'Bolsheviks' and republicans . Both Carson and Bates feared this class conflict and the development of a militant Sinn Féin would threaten the class alliance with dissolution which had been embodied in

226-846: A devolved government in Northern Ireland did not include the UUP. In the 2016 European Union referendum the UUP was the only unionist party to support the remain campaign, the UUP Executive passing a motion on 5 March 2016 that the party "believes that on balance Northern Ireland is better remaining in the European Union, with the UK Government pressing for further reform and a return to the founding principle of free trade, not greater political union. The Party respects that individual members may vote for withdrawal." At

339-786: A lieutenant into the Gordon Highlanders in October 1881. He joined the 1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders at Malta , and in 1882 went with them to Egypt, fighting at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir , the last battle in which the British Army fought in red coats . He stayed in Egypt, and in 1884 was appointed garrison adjutant and staff lieutenant of military police at Alexandria . In 1886, he married Sophia Geraldine Atkin (died 1931), an Irishwoman; they had two daughters and

452-620: A Catholic funeral for a young boy killed by the Real IRA in the Omagh bombing . In a sign of unity, Trimble and President of Ireland Mary McAleese walked into the church together. In the 2001 general election, the Ulster Unionists lost a number of seats belonging to UUP stalwarts; for example, John Taylor , the former deputy leader of the party, lost his seat of Strangford to Iris Robinson . The party's misfortunes continued at

565-600: A deterrent effect on those who may be detailed for future outrages." In December 1920 Macready informed the British Cabinet that the Military Governors of the martial law areas had been authorized to conduct reprisals. From December 1920 until June 1921 approximately 150 "official" reprisals were carried out. The new "Auxies" were following the bad example set by the local Irish police, the RIC, who had begun

678-495: A good deal better than at present", he told Sir John Anderson . He advised that ad hoc reprisals by the Black and Tans were not stopping the "murders". After the killing of sixteen Black and Tans in an ambush at Macroom , County Cork , martial law was declared on 10 December 1920 in the four Munster counties of Cork , Tipperary , Kerry and Limerick . Three days later Auxiliary Cadet Peter Harte opened fire while on patrol at

791-565: A good reference for every one who asked. Macready disliked Ireland and the Irish. He had already written to Ian Macpherson on the latter's appointment as Chief Secretary for Ireland in January 1919: "I cannot say I envy you for I loathe the country you are going to and its people with a depth deeper than the sea and more violent than that which I feel against the Boche ". In April 1920, Macready

904-574: A hard-line challenge. The result proved inconclusive for O'Neill, who resigned a short time later. His resignation was probably caused by a speech of James Chichester-Clark who stated that he disagreed with the timing, but not the principle, of universal suffrage at local elections. Chichester-Clark won the leadership election to replace O'Neill and swiftly moved to implement many of O'Neill's reforms. Civil disorder continued to mount, culminating in August 1969 when Catholic Bogside residents clashed with

1017-404: A period of months or even years. He also abolished the shilling a day deduction made from the pay of men on sick leave. He had an intense dislike of trade unions, and never took the short-lived National Union of Police and Prison Officers seriously, which partly led to the strike of 1919 . Only a small percentage of the men went out on strike, and they were all dismissed, although Macready wrote

1130-476: A process of reprisal killings for IRA attacks, which gave Macready considerable cause for concern. "the RIC are not out of hand but are systematically left to reprise their officers." In Macready's view, shooting of suspects and dumping of bodies in the Liffey represented unavoidable "reprisals" for the death of a policeman. By 28 August, Macready knew that civil war was inevitable; as a consequence he would not tell

1243-572: A son. Macready remained in Alexandria until early 1889, when he returned to England to rejoin his regiment , and then served in Ceylon and India . Having been promoted to lieutenant in October 1889, he was promoted to captain in 1891. He was transferred to Dublin in 1892, and in 1894 became adjutant of the regiment's 2nd Volunteer Battalion in Aberdeenshire . In December 1899, he

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1356-665: A special conference on 29 December along with Wilson, Tudor and Sir John Anderson , head of the Civil Service in Dublin, at which they all advised that no truce should be allowed for elections to the planned Dublin Parliament, and that at least four months of martial law would be required to "break the Terror". The date for the elections was therefore set for May 1921. In accordance with Wilson and Macready's wishes, martial law

1469-570: A three-week strike demanding a 10-hour reduction in the working week. This was done in defiance of the national leadership of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions . The strike was extended to include electricity and municipal gas workers, causing large sections of industry and commerce to close down. They began to publish a daily newspaper and a General Strike Committee was formed and began to issue permits allowing only "necessary" production. By 1920 growing unemployment in

1582-467: A young man and an old priest, killing them both. Lloyd George was furious, calling for courts-martial and death by firing squad. But Macready stalled for time, and delayed justice, so that Harte eventually received a proper trial and was found guilty but insane . Mark Sturgis was angry because in the west, Sinn Féin was still very strong, so that the policy of shoot-to-kill was not working. On 23 December 1920, Irish Home Rule became law. Macready attended

1695-785: The 1918 general election the aims of the UULA were set out by Bates. In a letter to Carson he stated that they would be used as a means of distracting younger members of the working class from the Independent Labour Party , who held views which were very different from their own organisation, i.e. socialism. The Belfast Labour Party put four candidates forward, but they lost out to two UULA and two Unionist candidates. The UULA had three members returned, all of them in Belfast . Predominantly Protestant , Belfast engineering and shipyard workers, traditionally well organised, staged

1808-455: The 2017 general election the UUP lost both of its Commons seats, losing South Antrim to the DUP and Fermanagh & South Tyrone to Sinn Féin. The party polled 10.3% (−5.7%) and failed to take any other seats. In the 2019 local elections the UUP polled 14.1% (−2.0) winning 75 council seats, 13 fewer than in 2014. They lost their single MEP at the 2019 European Parliament elections following

1921-511: The 2nd Infantry Brigade at Aldershot . In June 1910 he returned to the War Office as director of personal services, responsible for a variety of personnel matters. Also having responsibility for military aid to the civil power, he played a large part in a series of labour disputes and in deploying troops to Ireland in anticipation of disturbances there. Unusually for an army officer of the time, he had marked liberal tendencies, believed in

2034-575: The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland in April 1970, while the emergence of Ian Paisley's Protestant Unionist Party continued to draw off some working-class and more Ulster loyalist support. In June 1973 the UUP won a majority of seats in the new Northern Ireland Assembly , but the party was divided on policy. The Sunningdale Agreement , which led to the formation of a power-sharing Executive under Ulster Unionist leader Brian Faulkner , ruptured

2147-485: The Government of Ireland Act 1920 , Irish unionism in effect split. Many southern unionist politicians quickly became reconciled with the new Irish Free State , sitting in its Senate or joining its political parties, while in Northern Ireland the existence of a separate Ulster Unionist Party became entrenched as it took control of the new Government of Northern Ireland , established in 1921. Carson strongly opposed

2260-806: The House of Lords who affiliated themselves with the IUA. The Ulster Defence Union was also formed on 17 March 1893 to oppose the Liberal government's plans for the Government of Ireland Bill 1893 . Although most unionist support was based in Ulster , especially within areas that later became Northern Ireland , in the late 19th and early 20th century there were unionist enclaves throughout all of Ireland. Unionists in Dublin and County Wicklow and in parts of County Cork were particularly influential. In September 1904,

2373-670: The National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations , but in 1985, withdrew from it as well, in protest over the Anglo-Irish Agreement . Subsequently, the Conservative Party has organised separately in Northern Ireland, with little electoral success. Under West's leadership, the party recruited Enoch Powell , who became Ulster Unionist MP for South Down in October 1974 after defecting from

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2486-758: The Northern Ireland Assembly , after Sinn Féin , the DUP, and the Alliance Party . Since August 2024 the party has been led by Mike Nesbitt . Between 1905 and 1972, its peers and MPs took the Conservative Party whip at Westminster , in effect functioning as the Northern Irish branch of the party. This arrangement came to an end in 1972 over disagreements over the Sunningdale Agreement . The two parties have remained institutionally separate ever since, with

2599-536: The Royal Ulster Constabulary in Derry because of an Apprentice Boys of Derry march, sparking days of riots. Early in 1971, Chichester-Clark flew to London to request further military aid following the 1971 Scottish soldiers' killings . When this was all but refused, he resigned to be replaced by Brian Faulkner . Faulkner's government struggled though 1971 and into 1972. After Bloody Sunday ,

2712-459: The Sunningdale Agreement and in 1985 over the Anglo-Irish Agreement . The UUP's sole remaining MP at the time, Sylvia Hermon, opposed the agreement, stating she would not be willing to stand under the UCUNF banner. In February 2010, Hermon confirmed that she would not be seeking a nomination as a UCUNF candidate for the forthcoming general election. On 25 March 2010, she formally resigned from

2825-760: The United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC) with Vanguard and the Democratic Unionist Party , successor to the Protestant Unionist Party. The result was that the UUUC won 11 out of 12 parliamentary seats in Northern Ireland on a fiercely anti-Sunningdale platform, although they barely won 50% of the overall popular vote. This result was a fatal blow for the Executive, which soon collapsed. Up until 1972

2938-563: The 'Ulster Unionist Party Assembly Group' whose membership was the 24 UUP MLAs and Ervine. Empey justified the link by stating that under the d'Hondt method for allocating ministers in the Assembly, the new group would take a seat in the Executive from Sinn Féin. Following a request for a ruling from the DUP's Peter Robinson , the Speaker ruled that the UUPAG was not a political party within

3051-605: The 149 UUP Stormont MPs were members of the Orange Order, as were all Prime Ministers. Sir James Craig, who in 1927 was created Viscount Craigavon , led the government of Northern Ireland from its inception until his death in November 1940 and is buried with his wife by the east wing of Parliament Buildings at Stormont . His successor, J. M. Andrews, was heavily criticised for appointing octogenarian veterans of Lord Craigavon's administration to his cabinet . His government

3164-640: The 1926 General Strike , when he served as a staff officer to the Chief Commandant of the Metropolitan Special Constabulary . He died at his home in Knightsbridge , London, in 1946, aged 83. His son, Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Macready (1891–1956), was also a distinguished soldier and inherited the baronetcy on his father's death. His character appears very briefly in the film Michael Collins (1996); he

3277-632: The 2005 election. The party held six seats at Westminster immediately before the 2005 general election, down from seven after the previous general election following the defection of Jeffrey Donaldson in 2004. The election resulted in the loss of five of their six seats. The only seat won by an Ulster Unionist was North Down, by Sylvia Hermon , who had won the seat in the 2001 general election from Robert McCartney of UK Unionist Party . David Trimble himself lost his seat in Upper Bann and resigned as party leader soon after. The ensuing leadership election

3390-577: The Army. Macready, commander-in-chief, was in disagreement; Macready argued that escalation of violence would only unite the two factions of IRA and alienate the moderates. Britain pressurised Dublin to arm the National Army of Ireland ( Free State Army ) with British guns, giving an ultimatum for the rebels to leave on 28 June. In the event it was agreed with Richard Mulcahy that they should receive two 18-pounder field guns. These were used to pound

3503-586: The Belfast industries was celebrated with Union Jack unfurlings and addressed by members of the UULA. Catholic retaliation and reprisals were inevitable, with gun and bomb attacks on trains carrying shipyard workers. This resulted in yet more reprisals, with widespread looting and burning of Catholic owned businesses. The British army while guarding Catholic properties clashed with Protestant crowds with fatal consequences. This resulted in UULA creating an "unofficial special constabulary", with members drawn chiefly from

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3616-805: The Boers. He was mentioned in dispatches twice and promoted to the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1900, and in June 1901 headed a commission investigating cattle-raiding in Zululand . He stayed in South Africa in a series of staff posts, including assistant provost marshal at Port Elizabeth (1901), deputy assistant adjutant-general (DAAG) of the district west of Johannesburg (December 1901–1902), assistant adjutant general (AAG) and chief staff officer of Cape Colony (1902–1905), and assistant quartermaster-general (AQMG) of Cape Colony (1905–1906). He

3729-636: The British Government threatened to remove control of the security forces from the devolved government. Faulkner reacted by resigning with his entire cabinet, and the British Government suspended, and eventually abolished, the Northern Ireland Parliament , replacing it with Direct Rule . The liberal unionist group, the New Ulster Movement , which had advocated the policies of Terence O'Neill, left and formed

3842-771: The Cabinet, which Macready chaired, opposed the recruitment of the Black and Tans and Auxiliary Division , and he continued to be a strident critic of these bodies. The government pressed ahead with recruiting auxiliaries, whose numbers would eventually peak at 1,500 in July 1921. Macready had been initially impressed by Tudor and thought he was getting rid of "incompetent idiots" from senior police positions. According to Tudor's Weekly Summary Joseph Byrne and Macready were concerned about frequently drunk on duty policemen. Macready and Wilson became increasingly concerned that Tudor, with

3955-609: The Conservative Party. In the 2011 local elections it lost seats to the Alliance Party east of the Bann and was also overtaken by them on Belfast City Council. Tom Elliott was criticised for comments he made in his victory speech where he described elements of Sinn Féin as "scum". Elliott resigned in March 2012 saying some people had not given him a 'fair opportunity' to develop and progress many party initiatives. Mike Nesbitt

4068-621: The Conservative government of Arthur Balfour published proposals for limited devolution to Ireland which would not amount to home rule. Coming from Conservatives, these led to great alarm among Irish unionists; in March 1905, the Ulster Unionist Council, which later became the Ulster Unionist Party, was formed as a co-ordinating organization for a new form of local political activity. It largely subsumed

4181-623: The Conservatives. Powell advocated a policy of 'integration', whereby Northern Ireland would be administered as an integral part of the United Kingdom. This policy divided both the Ulster Unionists and the wider unionist movement, as Powell's ideas conflicted with those supporting a restoration of devolved government to Northern Ireland. The party also made gains upon the break-up of the Vanguard Party and its merger back into

4294-792: The Four Courts garrison into surrender but they missed; the officers were so inexperienced that Emmet Dalton , the Chief of Staff required artillery training from Macready's men. Macready retired on 1 March 1923 and was created a baronet . He had been sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland in 1920. In 1924, he published his two-volume memoirs, Annals of an Active Life . Macready destroyed his own diaries and private papers after completing his memoirs, but 400 letters between Wilson and Macready survive, only ten of which predate his Irish appointment. He briefly returned to police service during

4407-586: The Great War. The two were quickly captured and hanged. The murder precipitated a policy of "Official Reprisals", sparked by Rory O'Connor 's anti-Treaty IRA occupation of the Four Courts, home of the Provisional Government's ministry. From 22 June 1922 there were six Cabinet meetings in 72 hours. They concluded that the Four Courts was a centre of "seditious activity". On 24 June the Cabinet ordered an assault for 25 June, to be carried out by

4520-658: The Irish administration were over-ridden; David Lloyd George 's government approved from the beginning and granted official status in the form of the B Specials in November 1920. This official endorsement would shape both the formation of the state of Northern Ireland and Catholic feelings to it. Besides its opposition to a united Ireland and to socialism, the association did not make serious attempts to speak on behalf of loyalist workers. However, it did organise some limited adult education in its early days, and opened two working men's clubs in East and North Belfast. The association

4633-566: The Stormont Parliament. The Great Depression saw many workers look instead to the official trade union movement and the Northern Ireland Labour Party , and many branches of the UULA became moribund. A drive to reinvigorate the UULA was launched in the 1950s, although only one new branch was formed, in Derry . In the 1970s, its role as a movement for the mobilisation of the loyalist working classes

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4746-705: The Truce rendered the matter academic. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty and creation of the Irish Free State in 1922, he withdrew the troops without great incident before the onset of the Irish Civil War . It has been suggested that Collins had a hand in the assassination of Sir Henry Wilson . This has never been confirmed. Wilson was shot dead at the doorstep of his London home by two Irishmen, former British Army soldiers who had served in

4859-410: The UUP returned to Westminster, gaining the South Antrim seat from the DUP and Fermanagh & South Tyrone (where they had an electoral pact with the DUP not standing) from Sinn Féin. In 2016, the UUP and the SDLP decided not to accept the seats on the Northern Ireland Executive to which they would have been entitled and to form an official opposition to the executive. This marked the first time that

4972-406: The UUP sat with the Conservative Party at Westminster , traditionally taking the Conservative parliamentary whip . To all intents and purposes the party functioned as the Northern Ireland branch of the Conservative Party. In 1972, in protest over the prorogation of the Parliament of Northern Ireland , the Westminster Ulster Unionist MPs withdrew from the alliance. The party remained affiliated to

5085-418: The UUP was led by a combination of landed gentry ( The 1st Viscount Brookeborough , Hugh MacDowell Pollock and James Chichester-Clark ), aristocracy ( Terence O'Neill ) and gentrified industrial magnates ( The 1st Viscount Craigavon and J. M. Andrews – nephew of The 1st Viscount Pirrie ). Only its last Prime Minister , Brian Faulkner , was from a middle-class background. During this era, all but 11 of

5198-417: The UUP. He retired in 1963 and was replaced by Terence O'Neill , who emerged ahead of other candidates, Jack Andrews and Faulkner. In the 1960s, identifying with the civil rights movement of Martin Luther King Jr. and encouraged by attempts at reform under O'Neill, various organisations campaigned for civil rights, calling for changes to the system for allocating public housing and the voting system for

5311-472: The UUP. Shortly after his election, three 2010 general election candidates resigned: Harry Hamilton, Paula Bradshaw and Trevor Ringland . Bradshaw and Hamilton subsequently joined the Alliance Party. The party lost two seats in the 2011 Assembly elections and won fewer votes than the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) (although it won more seats than the SDLP). Two of its candidates, Bill Manwaring and Lesley Macaulay, subsequently joined

5424-454: The Ulster Defence Union. From the beginning, the new organization had a strong association with the Orange Order , a Protestant fraternal organisation . The original composition of the Ulster Unionist Council was 25% Orange delegates; however, this proportion was reduced through the years. The initial leadership of the Ulster unionists all came from outside what would later become Northern Ireland. In particular, from 1905 Colonel Saunderson

5537-406: The Ulster Unionist Executive and area council of Northern Ireland Conservatives agreed to field joint candidates in future elections to the House of Commons and European Parliament under the name " Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force " (UCUNF). The agreement meant that Ulster Unionist MPs could have sat in a Conservative Government, renewing the relationship that had broken down in 1974 over

5650-405: The Ulster Unionists. The separate United Ulster Unionist Party (UUUP) emerged from the remains of Vanguard but folded in the early 1980s, as did the UPNI. In both cases the main beneficiaries of this were the Ulster Unionists, now under the leadership of James Molyneaux (1979–95). David Trimble led the party between 1995 and 2005. His support for the Belfast Agreement caused a rupture within

5763-470: The connivance of Lloyd George , who loved to drop hints to that effect, was operating an unofficial policy of killing IRA men in reprisal for the deaths of pro-Crown forces. However, Macready also told Wilson that the Army was arranging "accidents" for suspected IRA men, but did not tell the politicians as he did not want them "talked and joked about after dinner by Cabinet Ministers". Commenting on official reprisals, Macready stated that such actions "must have

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5876-422: The correct pronunciation of his name), was a British Army officer. He served in senior staff appointments in the First World War and was the last British military commander in Ireland, and also served for two years as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis in London. Macready was the son of the prominent actor William Charles Macready . His father was 69 years old at Nevil's birth. His paternal grandfather

5989-401: The current name of the Conservative and Unionist Party , to which the Ulster Unionist Party was formally linked, to varying degrees, until 1985. At the 1918 general election , Carson switched constituencies from Dublin University to Belfast Duncairn . After the Irish Convention of 1917–1918 failed to reach an understanding on home rule, and even more after the Partition of Ireland under

6102-399: The deployment of two extra divisions to Iraq , and the threatened coal strike in September 1920, Macready warned that the planned withdrawal of ten battalions would make peacekeeping in Ireland impossible (unless the Army was given a free hand to conduct purely military operations, which the politicians did not want) and large portions of the RIC would probably change sides. Macready opposed

6215-417: The devolution of regeneration powers to councils. They received 81,282 votes, 10.9% of the total, down 3.2% from the 2019 local elections . The party had 54 councillors elected, down 21 from 2019. Nevil Macready General Sir Cecil Frederick Nevil Macready, 1st Baronet , GCMG , KCB , PC (Ire) (7 May 1862 – 9 January 1946), known affectionately as Make-Ready (close to

6328-439: The end of the year, but the total exceeded this. The BEF suffered an alarming rise in drunkenness, desertions and psychological disorders; reports were gathered of soldiers returning from the front grumbling about "the waste of life" at Ypres. In September 1918 Macready was promoted full general and appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG). He had been mentioned in despatches four times during

6441-496: The ex-servicemen. It would be the local middle class who succeeded in giving the conflict its sectarian twist. In the spring and summer of 1920 "indignation" meetings were held in Belfast by working-class members of Carson’s “ Old Town Hall circle ” to attack the British unions for their " Bolshevism " and "pro-republicanism". Leading Unionists and employers went along in these events and even justified them, as they were perceiving themselves to be vulnerable. After one meeting held in

6554-516: The exception of the 2009 to 2012 Ulster Conservatives and Unionists electoral alliance. The first-ever membership survey of the UUP, published in January 2019, suggested that 67% of its members were supportive of the Conservative Party. The Ulster Unionist Party traces its formal existence back to the foundation of the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905. It is the oldest political party on the island of Ireland . Modern organised unionism emerged after William Ewart Gladstone 's introduction in 1886 of

6667-613: The expulsions was the killing of Banbridge RIC man Colonel Smyth on 7 July in Cork . Rail Union members in the south of Ireland refused to allow his body to travel home by train, leading many Loyalists to then identify the Labour movement with his assassins. It was on the day of his funeral, Collins says, that the expulsions began, resulting in ten thousand Catholics and so-called "Rotten Prods" with connections to Labour. Most Protestant employers looked on with tacit approval as "Vigilance Committees" were established to prevent "disloyalist" workers from being re-employed. Protestant domination of

6780-494: The first half of 1921, with deaths of pro-Crown forces running at approximately double the rate of those in the second half of 1920 but with the IRA running desperately short of funds and ammunition and later described by one of its leaders Michael Collins as "dead beat" and within "six weeks of defeat". Macready backed a policy of "deterrent effects" against the IRA; houses were ordered to be destroyed, tenants evicted to remove those who shot at patrols. The British were slowly getting

6893-400: The first leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, from 1910. Throughout his years of leadership, he fought a sustained campaign against Irish Home Rule, including taking the lead in the formation of the Ulster Volunteers at the onset of the Home Rule Crisis in 1912. In 1912, at Westminster the Home Rule Crisis led to the Liberal Unionist Party merging with the Conservatives, thus giving rise to

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7006-468: The first of three Home Rule Bills in response to demands by the Irish Parliamentary Party . In 1891, the Irish Conservative Party came to an end, merged into a new Irish Unionist Alliance (IUA) which also included the Irish Liberal Unionists , the latter having split from the Liberal Party over the issue of home rule . While usually dominated by unionists from Ulster , the IUA was often led by southern unionists. There were also some eighty members of

7119-413: The formation of the Ulster Special Constabulary , announced by London on 20 October. The Specials were subsumed totally by Protestants clubs, such as the Cromwell Clubs. Dublin Castle wrote to Bonar Law , the Conservative Party leader, urging that the coalition government ban any recruitment from the Ulster Volunteer Force , an unreliable gang of paramilitaries. A military committee of review appointed by

7232-418: The friends of Labour care no more about Labour than does the man in the moon . Their real object, and the real insidious nature of their propaganda is that they mislead and bring about disunity amongst our own people and in the end before we know where we are, we may find ourselves in the same bondage and slavery as is the rest of Ireland in the South and West." Collins however suggests that the direct cause of

7345-400: The linen industries and engineering sector were creating tension within the "Protestant bloc". Large numbers of well organised ex-servicemen were still out of work and a cause of concern to the local middle class . It was the local middle class who alleged that "peaceful penetration" of Belfast industry during the war by thousands of Catholics created the unemployment problem, especially that of

7458-441: The local government franchise, which was restricted to (disproportionately Protestant) rate payers . O'Neill had pushed through some reforms but in the process the Ulster Unionists became strongly divided. At the 1969 Stormont general election UUP candidates stood on both pro- and anti-O'Neill platforms. Several independent pro-O'Neill unionists challenging his critics, while the Protestant Unionist Party of Ian Paisley mounted

7571-473: The meaning of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 . The party lost 9 seats in the 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election , retaining 18 MLAs. Empey was the only leader of one of the four main parties not to be re-elected on first preference votes alone in the Assembly elections of March 2007. In July 2008, the UUP and Conservative Party announced that a joint working group had been established to examine closer ties. On 26 February 2009,

7684-485: The old Ulster Volunteers . By sounding the counter-revolutionary alarm, it would be a call to "loyal workers" against what it considered the twin threats of socialism and republicanism . The grouping adopted as formal policy an opposition to socialism, but was seen by many as an attempt to convince people that the Unionist Party had the interests of the working class at heart. Members included Tommy Henderson , later an independent Unionist member of parliament. During

7797-435: The partition of Ireland and the end of unionism as an all-Ireland political force, so he refused the opportunity to be Prime Minister of Northern Ireland or even to sit in the Northern Ireland House of Commons , citing a lack of connection with the new province. The leadership of the UUP and, subsequently, Northern Ireland, was taken by Sir James Craig . Until almost the very end of its period of power in Northern Ireland ,

7910-434: The party and announced that she would be standing as an independent candidate at the general election. As a result, the UUP were left without representation in the House of Commons for the first time since the party's creation. At the 2010 general election , UCUNF won no seats in Northern Ireland (while Hermon won hers as an independent). The UCUNF label was not used again. Following the election, Empey resigned as leader. He

8023-449: The party because of Beattie's promotion of 'liberal values'. In January 2022, Beattie made what some saw as a misogynistic joke about DAERA minister Edwin Poots and his wife. After this, it was found that he had made other controversial jokes on social media, before entering politics, and he made a statement apologizing. The party contested all 18 constituencies in the 2022 Assembly election . They received 96,390 votes, 11.2% of

8136-561: The party into pro-agreement and anti-agreement factions. Trimble served as First Minister of Northern Ireland in the power-sharing administration created under the Belfast Agreement . Unusually for a unionist party, the UUP had a Catholic MLA in the Northern Ireland Assembly , Sir John Gorman until the 2003 election. In March 2005, the Orange Order voted to end its official links with the UUP. Trimble faced down Orange Order critics who tried to suspend him for his attendance at

8249-538: The party. In the 1973 elections to the Executive the party found itself divided, a division that did not formally end until January 1974 with the triumph of the anti-Sunningdale faction. Faulkner was then overthrown, and he set up the Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (UPNI). The Ulster Unionists were then led by Harry West from 1974 until 1979. In the February 1974 general election , the party participated in

8362-543: The police and Army. Major-General Hugh Tudor , a distinguished artilleryman, was appointed Police Advisor in May 1920, then Chief of Police in November 1920. A month after taking up official duties, Macready came to London to demand eight extra battalions of infantry and 234 motor vehicles. Sir Henry Wilson only learned of the request the evening before the Cabinet meeting and thought Macready "a vain ass" for not seeking his advice first. The cabinet agreed on 11 May 1920 to supply

8475-725: The police and to the Home Office and not answerable to the panicking local magistrates . This policy probably helped to avert serious unrest in 1910 and again in a similar situation in 1912. A civil CB was added to his military CB in 1911 and, in 1912 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB). After the Curragh incident in Ireland in March 1914, Macready was made general officer commanding (GOC) Belfast District and

8588-548: The retirement of Jim Nicholson. Danny Kennedy stood as the UUP candidate polling 9.3% (−4.0%). Steve Aiken succeeded Robin Swann as leader in November 2019. The party increased its vote share to 11.7% (+1.4%) in the 2019 general election , but failed to re-gain a seat. Their best result was in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, where Tom Elliott lost to Sinn Féin by 57 votes. Steve Aiken resigned on 8 May 2021, and Doug Beattie

8701-565: The right to strike , and supported Irish home rule . He was contemptuous of politics, socialism , communism , pacifism and capitalism (unless the employers treated their employees very well). He was promoted major-general in October, and in November he took direct command of troops deployed to deal with a possible miners' strike, in the Rhondda Valley in South Wales , insisting that his troops remained subordinate both to

8814-446: The shipyards in July, attacks began on workers identified as Belfast Labour members, socialists and Catholics. This then spread to some sections of the linen industry and the engineering industry, resulting in over "8,000 expulsions within a week." Paul Collins suggests that the expulsions were partly the result of a speech made by Carson on 12 July, Orange Order celebrations linking Labour with Sinn Féin: "…These men who come forward as

8927-577: The shipyards, tasked with "policing" Protestant areas. Carson and Craig need to establish a militant basis for resistance to republicanism, wished to reconstitute the UVF which could operate independently of the British. They then set about securing British government approval and funds for the UULA constabularies in Belfast, along with the UVF. While Neville Macready commander-in-chief of the British army in Ireland withheld his approval, he and his supporters in

9040-411: The time, although largely stripped of executive power in the spring of 1920) made him accept. Macready and Greenwood insisted on restoring proper authority, which was lax and enfeebled. Macready was experienced at crisis management. He demanded a higher pension than his predecessor and an increase in "table money" (entertainment expenses) from £500 to £1,400 as well as £5,000 "disturbance allowance". He

9153-537: The total, down 1.7% from the 2017 Assembly election . They had 9 MLAs elected, down 1 from 2017 after Roy Beggs Jr lost his seat in East Antrim to Alliance. In the 2023 local elections , Beattie characterised the election as a 'choice between delivery or dysfunction'. The UUP ran 101 candidates across the 11 councils, with a manifesto pledging 'city and growth deals', the appointment of 'prompt payment champions' to each council, 'below inflation rate rises' and

9266-409: The upper hand. In April 1921, the cabinet decided to withdraw four of Macready's 51 battalions to meet the possible Triple Alliance strike. Macready believed Ireland could be suppressed in the summer of 1921 with the elections out of the way, not least as troops would otherwise need to be replaced after the strain of guerrilla war. In May 1921, Lloyd George announced a surge of manpower; but Macready

9379-459: The vehicles and as far as possible the extra technical personnel requested, but on Wilson's advice agreed only to hold the extra battalions "in readiness". In July an argument with Catholic Archbishop Gilmartin, led him to exclaim that men could not be tried in Tuam , because nobody was willing to come forward for Jury service, "the people at least indifferent". With the army stretched very thinly by

9492-595: The victims of the Lismore bombings not to resist. He was worried that release of political prisoners would anger the police; hanging became a matter of credibility. He rejected calls to spare the life of a young medical student, Kevin Barry , caught red-handed in the murders of several soldiers as young or younger than Barry was, in Dublin. Macready recruited Major Ormonde Winter , an intelligence expert, as head of police detectives, to train sergeants to build networks; but it

9605-830: The war, been made a Grand Officier of the Légion d'honneur of France (1915), and a member of the Order of the Crown of Belgium, the Order of the Crown of Italy, and the Order of the Sacred Treasures of Japan. In August 1918, Macready somewhat reluctantly took the post of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London Metropolitan Police , to which Prime Minister Asquith had intended to appoint him before war broke out in 1914. Morale

9718-514: Was William Macready the Elder (1755–1829), a famous Irish actor from Dublin . He was born in Cheltenham in May 1862 and was brought up in the bohemian circles frequented by his parents (his mother, Cecile, was the granddaughter of the painter, Sir William Beechey ), and was educated at Marlborough College (for two years, before falling ill) and Cheltenham College . He later claimed that he

9831-692: Was Prime Minister for one year longer. During this time he was on more than one occasion called to meetings of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland to explain his actions, most notably following the 1947 Education Act which made the government responsible for the payment of National Insurance contributions of teachers in Catholic Church-controlled schools. Ian Paisley called for Brookeborough's resignation in 1953 when he refused to sack Brian Maginess and Clarence Graham , who had given speeches supporting re-admitting Catholics to

9944-473: Was abandoned on 3 June 1921. Macready had no answer to the attacks on soft Unionist targets. Macready was instrumental in negotiating the truce in July 1921 , although he suggested, perhaps in jest, that the entire Irish Dáil could be arrested whilst in session. He suffered the irritation of being found in contempt of court for refusing to obey an order of habeas corpus in the Joseph Egan case; but

10057-467: Was adamant that military jurisdiction in the Martial Law Area (MLA) trumped the civil courts. In a number of civil rights cases King's Bench writs were issued to reclaim bodies and damages. But Macready dismissed the conflict in actions, as an "anomaly". As the violence escalated he had suspended civilian jurisdictions by Proclamation in April. The Irish War of Independence reached a climax in

10170-550: Was also able to appoint twenty delegates to the Ulster Unionist Council as late as the early 1970s. The organisation was never able to attract leading trade unionists, and soon declined in importance. While Andrews and William Grant were initially able to speak on its behalf in the Parliament of Northern Ireland , in later years only the less prominent John William Kennedy and occasional senators sat in

10283-567: Was also believed to be more interested in protecting the statue of Carson at the Stormont Estate than the citizens of Belfast during the Belfast Blitz . A backbench revolt in 1943 resulted in his resignation and replacement by Sir Basil Brooke (later Viscount Brookeborough ), although Andrews was recognised as leader of the party until 1946. Lord Brookeborough, despite having felt that Craigavon had held on to power for too long,

10396-500: Was concerned about low morale, and lack of specific training. An extra seventeen battalions were sent in June and July, bringing British strength up to 60,000, but the politicians drew back from the brink and opened secret talks with James Craig and Éamon de Valera (who had been born in New York of Spanish descent and whom Macready called Wilson's "Cuban Jew compatriot"). The policy of Official Reprisals proved counter-productive and

10509-677: Was elected as leader on 17 May 2021. Beattie, a former soldier, is perceived as a progressive unionist, and it was predicted that following his election as leader, the party would reclaim some of the centre ground that they had lost to the Alliance Party. After Beattie became leader, a number of new members joined the party including former Belfast PUP councillor Julie-Anne Corr-Johnston, Derry and Strabane DUP councillor Ryan McCready, former Independent Irish Senator Ian Marshall , Belfast Alliance Party councillor Carole Howard and Belfast PUP councillor John Kyle . In October 2021, Newry and Mourne UUP councillor Harold McKee resigned from

10622-399: Was elected leader on 31 March 2012, beating John McCallister , by 536 votes to 129. In the 2014 European election Jim Nicholson held his MEP seat, although his percentage of the vote decreased to 13.3% (−3.8%). The party gained 15 seats in the local elections that same day. They polled 16.1% (+0.9%), making it the only party to increase its vote share. At the 2015 general election ,

10735-483: Was extended over the rest of Munster (Counties Waterford and Clare ) and part of Leinster (Counties Kilkenny and Wexford ). Macready felt under a great deal of pressure. The officer class were not prepared and contemptuous of the enemy's intelligence network; they did not take the need to adapt to gathering seriously. By 1921, Macready had lost confidence in Tudor and thought the RIC had become unreliable. Macready

10848-545: Was far too lazy to pursue an artistic career himself, and although he expressed an interest in a stage career, his father, who loathed his own profession, expressly forbade it (although he continued to be involved in amateur dramatics all his life and was also a talented singer). He therefore joined the British Army , passing out from the Royal Military College at Sandhurst , and being commissioned as

10961-611: 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

11074-407: Was low, and many men were currently on strike over pay and trade union recognition. Macready got them back to work by granting a pay rise and promising the introduction of machinery for collective bargaining . He was popular among the constables and sergeants , whom he got to know far more than his predecessors had done. He abolished the system of punishment by deducting fines from men's pay over

11187-652: Was no cause for concern in Nationalist Ireland: "I do not believe leaders mean insurrection," wrote Sir Matthew Nathan, "or that the Volunteers have sufficient arms to make it formidable if the leaders do mean it." The British underestimated the intent of the Irish leaders. Macready advised General Maxwell (whose courts-martial condemned the leaders of the Easter Rising to death) not to delay, and not to be afraid of overstepping authority. He

11300-619: Was nominated as military governor-designate of Belfast in the event of civil war breaking out , something averted by the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. On the outbreak of war in August 1914, Macready was immediately sent to France as Adjutant-General of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). In 1915, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG). In February 1916, having carried out this job efficiently, he

11413-564: Was often referred to as the Official Unionist Party ( OUP ). Under David Trimble , the party helped negotiate the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which ended the conflict. Trimble served as the first First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002. However, it was overtaken as the largest unionist party in 2003 by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). As of 2022 it is the fourth-largest party in

11526-487: Was probably too slow a decision, and too little too late to win the war. The Barry case was thoroughly investigated at Macroom Station by Lt Crake of C company, of whom Macready thought well. Macready came to support martial law as he was worried that army and police discipline might otherwise collapse. "They are hopelessly out of date", he warned "We are sitting on a volcano . If they were turned into an unarmed police force they would fulfill their functions in time of peace

11639-452: Was promoted lieutenant-general in June 1916 (although he was already temporarily in that rank). Macready was an enthusiastic proponent of the employment of female labour to free men to go to the front. He also abolished the compulsory wearing of moustaches by British soldiers, and immediately shaved off his own, which he had hated. On 8th October, 1916, the order allowing all ranks to grow or not to grow moustaches according to their fancy

11752-559: Was promoted major and returned to India to join the 2nd Battalion, which was sent to South Africa in September. Macready saw active service in the Second Boer War , serving in the besieged garrison at Ladysmith from October 1899 to February 1900. As a captain, returning from bringing in wounded, he first met Major-General John French on the battlefield of Elandslaagte , giving him a cup of coffee which he had looted from

11865-763: Was promoted to colonel in November 1903. He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1906 and returned to Britain in October of that year. In March 1907, Macready was appointed assistant adjutant general in the directorate of personal services at the War Office in London, taking over from Colonel Colin Mackenzie , and helped to form the Territorial Force (TF). He was then promoted to temporary brigadier general in August 1909 and succeeded Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson in command of

11978-469: Was recalled to London as Adjutant-General to the Forces , one of the most senior staff appointments in the British Army. In December 1915, Macready was warned by Special Branch of the impending violence and (Irish Nationalist) volunteer recruitment in Ireland, and from March 1916 was receiving warnings from daily police reports. At the War Office, civil servants as late as 10 April 1916, still believed there

12091-465: Was replaced by Tom Elliott as party leader in the subsequent leadership election . During the leadership election, it emerged that a quarter of the UUP membership came from Fermanagh and South Tyrone , the constituency of Elliott. The Dublin-based political magazine, the Phoenix , described Elliott as a "blast from the past" and said that his election signified "a significant shift to the right" by

12204-528: Was sent to command the troops in Ireland as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) British forces operating in the counter-insurgency role against the Irish Republican Army in the Irish War of Independence (alongside Hamar Greenwood as the new Chief Secretary ). He later stated in his memoirs that only loyalty to his "old Chief" Lord French (still Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at

12317-457: Was signed... I dropped into a barber's shop and set the example that evening, as I was only too glad to be rid of the unsightly bristles to which I had for many years been condemned by obedience to regulations. During the final stages of the Battle of Passchendaele , Macready warned (4 October 1917) that the BEF could be kept up to strength if it suffered no more than a further 50,000 casualties before

12430-599: Was simultaneously leader of the Irish Unionist Alliance MPs and leader of the Ulster Unionist Council in Belfast. In 1906 he was succeeded in both roles by Walter Hume Long , a Dublin MP. Another Dubliner, Sir Edward Carson , one of the two Irish Unionist Alliance MPs for the Dublin University constituency , and Lord Midleton were also southern unionists active in both. Carson went on to become

12543-650: Was taken over by more militant groups such as the Loyalist Association of Workers and the Ulster Workers' Council . Already by the early 1970s, the association's primary role was organising the wreath-laying at the annual memorial service for Carson, and today it exists solely to perform this ceremonial role. Ulster Unionists The Ulster Unionist Party ( UUP ) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland . The party

12656-490: Was unimpressed by the administrative chaos in Dublin and the "crass stupidity which is so often found among police officers who have not been carefully selected". Nevertheless, he was a good and dynamic commander, increasing morale, improving policy and securing additional troops and equipment. He refused to also take command of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), however, which reduced coordination between

12769-400: Was won by Reg Empey . In May 2006 UUP leader Empey attempted to create a new assembly group that would have included Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) leader David Ervine . The PUP is the political wing of the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Many in the UUP, including the last remaining MP, Sylvia Hermon , were opposed to the move. The link was in the form of a new group called

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