Progressive Unionist Party
Encyclopedia
The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is a small unionist
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...

 political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, becoming the PUP in 1979. Linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), it is the left-wing party of unionism in Northern Ireland, with its main support base in the loyalist
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...

 working-class communities of Belfast.

Party Leaders

  • Hugh Smyth
    Hugh Smyth
    Cllr Hugh Smyth is a former leader of the Progressive Unionist Party. He is a long-serving member of Belfast City Council and former Lord Mayor of Belfast. He is also the longest-serving member of the council, having represented the Upper Shankill areas since 1973...

     - 1979 - 2002
  • David Ervine
    David Ervine
    David Ervine was a Northern Irish politician and the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party .-Biography:...

     - 2002 - 2007
  • Dawn Purvis
    Dawn Purvis
    Dawn Purvis was an Independent Unionist member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. She was previously the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party until she resigned in 2010. She lost her seat in the Assembly in the 2011 election.-Biography:...

     - 2007 – 2010
  • John Kyle
    John Kyle (unionist politician)
    John Kyle is a Councillor on Belfast City Council, and the interim leader of the centre-left loyalist Progressive Unionist Party in Northern Ireland.-Background and entry into Politics:...

  • Brian Ervine
    Brian Ervine
    Brian Ervine is a playwright, songwriter and teacher living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Northern Irish playwright St John Ervine was a distant relative...

     - 2010 - 2011
  • Billy Hutchinson
    Billy Hutchinson
    Billy Hutchinson is the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party in Northern Ireland. He was elected to Belfast City Council in 1997 and to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998. He lost his assembly seat in 2003 and his council seat in 2005...

     - 2011 - date

History

The party has had a degree of electoral success. In 1994 PUP leader Hugh Smyth
Hugh Smyth
Cllr Hugh Smyth is a former leader of the Progressive Unionist Party. He is a long-serving member of Belfast City Council and former Lord Mayor of Belfast. He is also the longest-serving member of the council, having represented the Upper Shankill areas since 1973...

 became Lord Mayor of Belfast
Lord Mayor of Belfast
The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairman of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 51 councillors.The Lord Mayor is Niall Ó Donnghaile of Sinn Féin, while the Deputy Lord Mayor is Ruth Patterson of the Democratic Unionist Party, who were elected in May 2011.The...

, and in the 1996 elections to the Northern Ireland Forum they secured two seats, with Smyth and David Ervine
David Ervine
David Ervine was a Northern Irish politician and the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party .-Biography:...

 both being elected. The PUP supported the Belfast Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...

 and in the 1998 election
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998
-Seats summary:-Details:Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:...

 to the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly 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...

 they also won two seats, with representatives Billy Hutchinson
Billy Hutchinson
Billy Hutchinson is the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party in Northern Ireland. He was elected to Belfast City Council in 1997 and to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998. He lost his assembly seat in 2003 and his council seat in 2005...

 and David Ervine elected from the Belfast North and East constituencies respectively, though they proceeded to lose one in the 2003 election
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003
The second elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on Wednesday 26 November 2003. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary...

, leaving Ervine as their sole Assembly representative. This was followed by a poor showing in the Northern Ireland local election of 2005
Northern Ireland local elections, 2005
Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 5 May 2005 along with the 2005 general election across the entire United Kingdom and local elections in England.-Results:-Belfast:-Derry:...

, where Smyth and Ervine were their only two members to retain their seats on local authorities, and the party now seems to be in a state of decline.

Their position on the left of the political spectrum differentiates them from the other unionist parties (such as the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...

 and the Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...

) which are ideologically conservative.

Following an intra-loyalist feud between the UVF and Loyalist Volunteer Force
Loyalist Volunteer Force
The Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and the Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade was stood down by the UVF leadership. He had been the commander of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The...

, in which four men were murdered by the UVF in Belfast, after which recognition of the UVF's ceasefire was withdrawn by the British government, the PUP debated ending its "special relationship" with the UVF but this was defeated in a closed vote at the party's annual conference in October 2005.

In March 2006, the Chairman of the PUP, Dawn Purvis, a research associate at the University of Ulster
University of Ulster
The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...

 was appointed as an independent member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board
Northern Ireland Policing Board
The Northern Ireland Policing Board is the police authority for Northern Ireland, charged with supervising the activities of the Police Service of Northern Ireland...

.

David Ervine died following a heart attack on 8 January 2007. On 22 January 2007 Dawn Purvis was chosen as party leader. She is the first woman to lead a unionist party in Northern Ireland. Dr John Kyle
John Kyle (unionist politician)
John Kyle is a Councillor on Belfast City Council, and the interim leader of the centre-left loyalist Progressive Unionist Party in Northern Ireland.-Background and entry into Politics:...

 was co-opted on to Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...

 to fill Ervine's seat. The party did not field any candidates for the 2010 general elections although Dawn Purvis
Dawn Purvis
Dawn Purvis was an Independent Unionist member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. She was previously the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party until she resigned in 2010. She lost her seat in the Assembly in the 2011 election.-Biography:...

 and other party members canvassed for the successful Alliance Party candidate Naomi Long.

Assembly elections, March 2007

The election was for 108 seats spread evenly across 18 constituencies.

The PUP fielded 3 candidates: Elaine Martin in North Down
North Down (Assembly constituency)
North Down is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...

, Andrew Park in Belfast South
Belfast South (Assembly constituency)
Belfast South is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...

 and Dawn Purvis in Belfast East
Belfast East (Assembly constituency)
Belfast East is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...

. Overall the party polled 3,822 votes or 0.6% of the votes cast in Northern Ireland, down 0.6% from the Elections of 2003.

Dawn Purvis was elected to represent Belfast East polling 3,045 votes (10.3%), finishing 5th out of the 15 candidates.

Retention of weapons, May 2007 and UVF decommissioning

On 3 May 2007 Gusty Spence
Gusty Spence
Augustus Andrew "Gusty" Spence was a leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force and a leading loyalist politician. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade but later renounced violence and joined the Progressive Unionist...

 read out the statement by the Ulster Volunteer Force announcing it will keep its weapons and a warning that activities could "provoke another generation of loyalists toward armed resistance".

However, the arms decommissioning body has said this did not meet the requirements set out in government legislation. The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning was established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in Northern Ireland, as part of the peace process.-Legislation and organisation:...

 (IICD) urged the UVF to work with it to destroy its weaponry.

It said it welcomed the statement, but was "concerned by their intention to deal with their arms without the involvement of the IICD".

In 2009 the UVF fully decommissioned all their weapons under the supervision of the IICD.

Recent resignations

In June 2010, Dawn Purvis resigned as leader, and as a member, of the party because of its relationship with the UVF and a recent murder attributed to that group. On the 28th of August the deputy leader, David Rose, resigned from the party. He cited the recent murder attributed to the UVF and his belief that the party was "becoming increasingly conservative in outlook.

Recent Activity

During a meeting in Belfast on the 29th of September 2010, members of the party agreed to maintain its relationship with the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Commando.

Assembly elections, May 2011

The election was for 108 seats spread evenly across 18 constituencies. The party failed to regain the East Belfast seat and are unrepresented in the Assembly. Leader Brian Ervine
Brian Ervine
Brian Ervine is a playwright, songwriter and teacher living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Northern Irish playwright St John Ervine was a distant relative...

 resigned soon after the election and was replaced by veteran west Belfast activist Billy Hutchinson
Billy Hutchinson
Billy Hutchinson is the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party in Northern Ireland. He was elected to Belfast City Council in 1997 and to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998. He lost his assembly seat in 2003 and his council seat in 2005...

 in October 2011.

Notable members

Former UVF member Billy Giles
Billy Giles
Billy Giles was a Ulster Volunteer Force volunteer who later became active in politics following his release from the Maze Prison in 1997 after serving 14 years of a life sentence for murder....

, whose biography is told in the first chapter of journalist Peter Taylor
Peter Taylor (Journalist)
Peter Taylor born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire is a British journalist and documentary-maker who had covered for many years the political and armed conflict in Northern Ireland, widely known as the Troubles...

's book Loyalists, having spent 14 years in the Maze Prison for a sectarian killing, was part of PUP's negotiating team at the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998. Others involved in this process included Billy Mitchell
Billy Mitchell (loyalist)
Billy Mitchell was a Northern Irish community activist and member of the Progressive Unionist Party. Mitchell was a leading member of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force and served a life sentence for his part in a double murder but later abandoned UVF membership and took up cross-community...

, Winston Churchill Rea
Winston Churchill Rea
Winston Churchill Rea , known as Winkie Rea, is the former leader of the Red Hand Commando loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland....

 and William "Plum" Smyth
William Smith (loyalist)
William Smith is a Northern Irish Loyalist former paramilitary and politician. He has been involved in loyalism in various capacities for at least forty years.-Early life:...

, all former UVF members.

See also

  • Northern Ireland Assembly
    Northern Ireland Assembly
    The Northern Ireland Assembly 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...

  • Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998
    Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998
    -Seats summary:-Details:Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:...

  • Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003
    Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003
    The second elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on Wednesday 26 November 2003. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary...

  • Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007
    Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007
    The third elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 7 March 2007 when 108 new members were elected. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their...

  • Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2011

External links


Previous logos of the Progressive Unionist Party

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK