It’s almost bizarre to think that at one point the Ulster Unionist Party ruled the roost in Northern Ireland, indeed up until relatively recently they were the largest Unionist party on the island. But the days of an Ulster Unionist First Minister, with MPs in Westminster and domination over local Government are long gone. With a succession of party leaders, splits, defections and bloody noses at the polls I have often wondered what the future is for the UUP in a political landscape dominated by the DUP, SDLP and Alliance.
Even in traditionally Unionist seats, the UUP have plummeted to fourth place behind Alliance and Sinn Fein. Out of eighteen Westminster seats, the UUP placed second only in three of them and gained no MPs at all in 2019. Between 2012 and 2017 they had hitched their wagon to both the most extreme elements of Loyalism during the flag protests, and then under the leadership of Mike Nesbitt they anchored themselves to the cross-community strategy of “Vote Mike, Get Colum”. Looking back along the last ten years, it’s obvious to me that the problem isn’t that the UUP can’t convince people to vote for them – it’s that they have no idea what their message is.
Unlike the other main parties, I can’t really name a single outstanding Ulster Unionist Party policy that differentiates them substantially from the DUP or the Alliance Party. They have, in recent times, skirted the boundary between Alliance’s liberal/soft-Unionism and the DUP’s more evangelical, hardline approach to social issues. But that thin line seems to have faded as the UUP vies for space in mainstream political discourse. The party that once dominated Belfast City Council has been reduced to a mere two councillors at the last election – behind the Green Party and People Before Profit.
Steve Aiken MLA, the incumbent leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, has a tough gig in making his party electable and relevant again. There is no doubt in my mind that Robin Swann has done an incredible job as Health Minister during a pandemic, but the party’s policies and actions are miles apart on social issues. Just today we’ve heard that Aiken has committed the UUP to attending Belfast Pride when it resumes post-COVID, yet his party’s representative on the Health Committee abstained on a vote to condemn the nasty practice of conversion therapy for LGBT people.
Steve Aiken also claimed that his party needs to appeal to more young people, LGBT people, and women. Yet the Minister for Health has so far refused to commission abortion services in Northern Ireland despite the law allowing him to do so, and their party leader has also said he will ditch the cross-community voting strategy adopted by Mike Nesbitt and encourage people to transfer to other Unionists – meaning the DUP and TUV who are openly and vehemently anti-LGBT and anti-abortion as matters of party policy.
Given some of the UUP’s more high profile MLAs taking part in a sustained outrageathon against a young political activist last week and immediately going on the offensive, it would seem to fly in the face of their desire to attract young people. People know where they stand with the DUP, Alliance, and even the TUV. But I struggle to think of why the UUP are an attractive option any longer for soft-Unionists, or liberal Unionists. Their input into the Brexit debacle, and particularly the NI Protocol issue has been to simply march lock-step with the DUP and offer no real alternative to their brand of oppositional Unionism.
I know their decline in success at the ballot box could be compared to that of the SDLP, but they at least offer a clear and moderate alternative to Sinn Fein and they are miles ahead of the Ulster Unionists on diversity within their ranks – young people, women, openly LGBT elected reps and now two MPs in Westminster. The SDLP listened to their base, they understood what their membership and electorate wanted and they inspired people to vote for them.
It may seem like I have spent this entire article bashing the Ulster Unionists, but I feel compelled to speak honestly about how I, as a moderate Unionist, view them. I think they could have been an effective alternative to the DUP had they the bravery and gumption to adopt more socially liberal policies more quickly, to set out a clear stall on Brexit, and refuse to engage in zero sum games by adopting some of the more sour elements of the DUP’s messaging. I’m afraid that opportunity has now been lost, and the DUP and Alliance will continue to siphon off their voting base until not much of the Ulster Unionist Party is left.
Stephen Donnan-Dalzell is a freelance writer, commentator and LGBT activist. Working in mental health & addictions. They/Them
Discover more from Slugger O'Toole
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
