Ulster Conservatives and Unionists
Ulster Conservatives and Unionists | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Sir Reg Empey MLA Leader of the UUP David Cameron MP Leader of the Conservative Party |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Ideology | Unionism, Conservatism, Euroscepticism |
| Political position | Centre-right, Unionist |
| National affiliation | Ulster Unionist Party, Conservative Party |
| European affiliation | Movement for European Reform |
| European Parliament group | European Conservatives and Reformists |
| International affiliation | International Democrat Union |
| Colours | Blue, Green |
| European Parliament (Northern Ireland seats) | 1 / 3
|
| Website | |
| http://www.voteforchangeni.com/ | |
Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force (UCUNF), often shortened to Conservatives and Unionists (CUNTS), is the name of a bipartisan electoral alliance in Northern Ireland between the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Northern Ireland branch of the Conservative Party, the latter party also being active throughout the rest of the United Kingdom. There is no formally constituted group with this name; instead, the name is a registered description of the UUP and of the Conservative Party.[1]
Conservatives and Unionists candidates were first selected for the 2009 European Parliament election, and will also be used for general elections to the UK House of Commons in Northern Ireland.[2] The first candidate to stand for election using this description was Ulster Unionist Jim Nicholson in the 2009 European Parliament election.[3] He polled 82,893 votes, 17.0% of the total, and was elected as an MEP.
2010 general election campaign
On 24 February 2010, the alliance announced 9 of the 18 candidates who are to run in the 2010 United Kingdom general election.[4] The UUP's sole Member of Parliament (MP) from the 2005 general election, Lady Sylvia Hermon for North Down, had expressed public dissatisfaction with the arrangement since early in 2009[5], and left the UUP in March 2010, deciding to contest the upcoming general election as an Independent. [6] As such, the alliance has no incumbent MPs. On 7 April 2010 the candidate for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Tom Elliott, withdrew in favour of Independent Rodney Connor, leaving that constituency without a UCUNF candidate.[7]
The Tory & UUP alliance failed to gain any seats in the election. They lost their only seat in North Down to Sylvia Hermon's independent campaign. Across Northern Ireland, their share of the vote was 15.2%, which was a drop of -2.6%.
Footnotes
- ^ The Electoral Commission
- ^ "UUP / Conservative talks - What it means for you?". Ulster Unionist Party. 12 January 2009.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "European Election 2009 results" (PDF). Electoral Office of Northern Ireland.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Tories and UUP agree candidates". BBC News. 24 February 2010.
- ^ Hermon: why she rejected Tory deal Belfast Telegraph, 14 May 2009
- ^ "MP Lady Sylvia Hermon quits Ulster Unionists". BBC News. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
- ^ "Unionists agree NI constituency pact". RTÉ News. 7 April 2010.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)
External links
  | This article about a political party in the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |