Ulster Unionist Party

The Ulster Unionist Party developed from the Ulster Unionist Council, established in 1905. It became the principal political organisation of Ulster unionism during the Home Rule crisis and later dominated the government of Northern Ireland for five decades.

Official UUP website ↗

Home Rule and the creation of Northern Ireland

The party was central to organised resistance to Irish Home Rule before the First World War. After partition in 1921, UUP leaders headed every Northern Ireland government until the old Stormont parliament was suspended in 1972.

That long period of rule created a close identification between the party and the institutions of Northern Ireland, but also associated it with a system in which the Catholic nationalist minority experienced significant discrimination.

Reform and the Troubles

Terence O’Neill attempted political and economic reform in the 1960s, but unionism fractured as the civil-rights movement, disorder and paramilitary violence intensified. Direct rule from Westminster began in 1972.

The UUP opposed the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement but later entered the multi-party talks that produced the Good Friday Agreement.

David Trimble and the 1998 Agreement

Under David Trimble the party endorsed the Good Friday Agreement. Trimble became First Minister of Northern Ireland and shared the Nobel Peace Prize with SDLP leader John Hume. The Agreement remained controversial inside the UUP, particularly over decommissioning and Sinn Féin’s role in government.

The DUP overtakes the UUP

During the 2000s the Democratic Unionist Party overtook the UUP as the largest unionist party. The UUP has remained represented across Northern Irish institutions and continues to advocate Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom.