The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist and conservative political party in Northern Ireland. Having gathered support in Ulster,the northern province in Ireland,during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries,the party governed Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. The UUP and its predecessors have been the traditional Unionist voice in Ireland. 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). Between 1905 and 1972,its peers and MPs took the Conservative whip at Westminster,in effect functioning as the Northern Irish branch of the Conservative and Unionist 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 the exception of the 2009–2012 Ulster Conservatives and Unionists electoral alliance.
Sir Jeffrey Mark Donaldson is a Northern Irish politician who has served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since June 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lagan Valley since 1997,and leader of the DUP in the UK House of Commons since 2019. He is Northern Ireland's longest-serving current MP.
Robert Thomas William McCrea,Baron McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown is a retired Free Presbyterian minister from Northern Ireland. A former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician,he represented South Antrim and Mid Ulster as their Member of Parliament (MP),representing Mid Ulster from 1983 to 1997;then South Antrim between 2000 to 2001,and then again from 2005 to 2015.
Upper Bann is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Carla Lockhart of the DUP.
The 2004 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election was triggered by the decision of a group of UUP members to challenge incumbent leader David Trimble over the party's direction following the 2003 Northern Ireland Assembly elections at the party's annual general meeting on 27 March 2004. The UUP has held a leadership election every March since at least the Ulster Unionist Council constitution was altered in 1973,however it is rarely contested. This is one of the few occasions when it has been contested.
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.
Richard James Shannon is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland. He has sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since 2010 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Strangford. He had previously sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2010 as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland (MLA) for Strangford. He is an advocate for Leave Means Leave,a pro-Brexit campaign.
William Mervyn Carrick,known as Mervyn Carrick is a former Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.
The 2011 election to the Northern Ireland Assembly 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.
David Calvert is a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland. He worked as a director of a family shirt manufacturing company. He was a founder member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in County Armagh.
Jonathan Fergus Bell is a former politician in Northern Ireland. He previously served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Strangford in the Northern Ireland Assembly,following the resignation of Iris Robinson,which he represented from 2010 to 2017.
Alderman Sydney Alexander Anderson is a politician in Northern Ireland.
The 2016 election to the Northern Ireland Assembly was held on Thursday,5 May 2016. It was the fifth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. 1,281,595 individuals were registered to vote in the election. Turnout in the 2016 Assembly election was 703,744 (54.9%),a decline of less than one percentage point from the previous Assembly Election in 2011,but down 15 percentage points from the first election to the Assembly held in 1998.
The 2010 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland occurred on 6 May 2010 and all 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. 1,169,184 people were eligible to vote,up 29,191 from the 2005 general election. 57.99% of eligible voters turned out,down 5.5 percentage points from the last general election.
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.
A by-election for the UK House of Commons constituency of Mid Ulster in Northern Ireland was held on 7 March 2013. The election was triggered by the resignation of Martin McGuinness,who had been elected to the seat in 1997 as the Sinn Féin candidate. The election was won by Francie Molloy,also of Sinn Féin.
The 2015 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 7 May 2015 and all 18 seats were contested. 1,236,765 people were eligible to vote,up 67,581 from the 2010 general election. 58.45% of eligible voters turned out,an increase of half a percentage point from the last general election.This election saw the return of Ulster Unionists to the House of Commons,after they targeted 4 seats but secured 2.
Douglas Ricardo Beattie,is a Northern Irish politician and former soldier,who has been the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since 27 May 2021. He has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) since 2016,representing the Upper Bann constituency. He is characterized as a 'progressive' and 'liberal' within the UUP.
Carla Rebecca Lockhart is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician,who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Upper Bann since the 2019 general election. She was previously a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Upper Bann,elected at the 2016 election,until 2019.
The 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election is expected to elect 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is due to be the seventh assembly election since the assembly was established in 1998.
