If Basil wins will the last one to leave the UUP please turn out the lights
It was the Sun which famously stated in 1992 “If Kinnock wins today will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights.” The News Letter seems to be running a slightly similar suggestion about Basil McCrea winning the UUP leadership race. They are suggesting that many of the current MLAs would refuse to serve with Basil McCrea as leader: thus far only one MLA (John McCallister) has declared for McCrea.
Much of this likely to be hyperbole. However, there are repeated reports that McCrea is a highly divisive figure within the UUP and very few leading members like him on a political or personal level. The current rumours may be just that: rumours; however, the UUP leadership may also be somewhat concerned that McCrea’s self proclaimed outsiders bid for the leadership is gathering significant momentum.
The UUP has elected outsiders before and ones who had at times a less than perfect relationship with their senior colleagues (Trimble being a classic example). However, if McCrea is really anything like as unpopular with his assembly colleagues as is being suggested his winning could cause massive problems.
Tom Elliott’s detractors have tried to present him as offering “Managed Decline.” Although as mentioned above much of this may be hyperbole, it looks as if Basil McCrea, might manage to achieve not managed decline but a political supernova leaving very little apart from Basil. (Sorry Pete I am sure that is not an appropriate analogy).
In his News Letter Union 2021 article Basil McCrea suggested that he was confident that Sinn Fein would not gain the First Ministership: he also stated “Picking the right fights is a fundamental requirement of good leadership.” Unfortunately Basil seems not to have heeded his own advice and rather seems to be in danger of having a fight with almost all his assembly party. It would be truly ironic if a Basil McCrea victory, if it did occur, ensured that Sinn Fein would never hold the First Ministership: by creating a united unionist party containing almost everyone apart from himself.
Im sorry but the uup is at the stage now where if it doesnt take a risk with change and Basil it is finished.
You have to look at all the MLAs that are openly supporting tom they are the old school cabal who are despaate to hang on to their jobs . Some of the better UUP MLAs are actually leaning towards Basil but havnt declared openly .
if you want to be DUP lite then vote Elliot , if you want the UUP to have a fighting chance then McCrea is the only option.
Perhaps if the cabal leading the party had better structural planning over the past 6-8 years then we would have more options in this leadership election. Instead self inteserest has lead to MLAs and councillors staying on well past their sell by dates.
That does make me warm to him.
Things must be grimmer down south..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11295462
I am surprised you read him CS. Life is fleeting.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/policy-not-personality-must-take-p.htmldence-14947255.html
Great article by Owen Polly , worth a blogg in itself
It is grim down there and their appalling macro management has negative effects on us.
Basil Mccrea if elected could make a big difference to NI poliitics .He could be help UUP make signifigant gains in areas like South Antrim nad Laganside with catholic votes like Sylvia hermon did in North Down and the SDLP did in South Down and Derry with protestant voters.
I m surprised the Media did not focus more on Elliots remarks were he appealed to cheap prejudices saying that he would not attend a ( GAA match or a gay rights rally) this is old style secterian politics.
of course toker, all those DUP voters (many of whom used to vote UUP) will suddenly decide they are really moderates after all and vote for Basil, that the main area the UUP can gain from.
As for the “significant gains” from Catholic Unionists these are a long way off as yet, and it would be preferable to still have the party in one piece to win them over when the time comes.
As for Tom’s remarks, the media did focus on them because they were not a big issue, he aid they wern’t his type of event and would be unlikely to attend.
So turn the lights out then. Truthfully, why should anyone give a shit whether the UUP survives or not ? On the contrary, surely given it’s unlovely history and utter irrelevance to the present their discontinuation would be something of a deliverance to this society.
One thing that puts me off Tom is that he seems keen to do unionit unity deals with the DUP. That is not great for the UUP. The DUP seem to prefer Tom; that worries me. With Basil you can restassured that he will take the fight right to the DUP.
sorry drumlinrock if I was not clear on my point, I am not saying that these people are closet unionists the same way as protestants that voted for sdlp wont become nationlists. It is tactical voting that would move out more extreme choices like mccrea in south antrim. I think it is also a healthy thing for any democracy if somebody votes outside his or her tribe. This can work as we saw in Westminster results of SDLP in Derry and South Down, as well as the votes in north Down and east Belfast show that cross community voting can work and will mean that a representative will represent all parts of the community which is much more democratic.
toker
No quite as healthy as ceasing to recognize politics in purely tribal terms would be. That’d be starting to approach something approximating to a healthy democracy.
Slug, Tom is firmly against the Unionist Unity idea, I heard him state that once again tonight at a leadership debate, yes he might co-operate with them in some issues, like he will with the SDLP (who are usually the ones reluctant to work with the UUP) and will with the Conservatives when useful, but he promises that it will only be UUP appearing on ballots etc.
PS, If it were the case that SF preferred Basil, would that worry you too? I’m hoping come mid May next year Tom will be the one worrying the DUP
Tom has been ambivalent on the idea of unionist unity, as have his supporters like Fred Cobain who recently threatened to do a deal with the DUPs. Tom also seems open to continued formal links with the Tories, whereas Basil has very wisely ruled this out.
The only way the UUP can have a future is as a self-confident independent party. Tom represents more of the same and managed decline.
Basil represents a chance of reaching out to the middle-ground (AP and Green voters) and the hundred thousand stay-at-home voters disillusioned with a choice between two regressive, traditionalist parties (the DUP and Reg’s UUP).
Also, even his opponents have got to give Basil credit for nailing his values and beliefs to the sticking point on issues like the GAA and LGB rights, even when that might be unpopular. That’s the mark of true leadership.
[...] multiple problems since being elected. Whilst the alternative leader (Basil McCrea) might well have resulted in an implosion it seems that even with Elliott the UUP may gradually atrophy and die: eighteen months ago, I [...]
[...] Tom Elliott was elected by a considerable margin over Basil McCrea even if one leaves out the votes from Fermanagh. At the time I suggested that Tom Elliott was by far the better option and that McCrea might well have split the party. [...]