It's one month since the Ulster Unionists and Conservatives got together to create a New Force in politics. There was a lot of work done in the background to ensure that Ulster Unionist party members (and representatives) didn't oppose the deal. Some Unionists thought it was a chance for them to recover electorally as part of a bigger movement, a chance for them to make a difference in UK politics, to win more Westminster seats, and possibly a Cabinet seat in the next UK government. Other Unionists preferred Labour policies, including their only MP who practically followed a Labour whip, and has been very quiet recent.
The Conservaties wanted a full merger with the UUP, and a new party called NICUP (NI Conservative Unionist Party). The UUP rejected the notion of a merger and instead chose an electoral alliance. The UCUNF (Ulster Conservative and Unionists - New Force) joint-ticket was formed and David Cameron flew to Belfast to pro-claim: May the force be with you, Reg Empey.
However, it's unlikely UCUNF will have any real electoral success. The Conservatives have never done well in NI. They only have one elected councillor - and he was elected as a UUP candidate in 2005 before defecting. They may have a chance to become the next UK government, but I think it's unlikely they'll achieve enough success in NI to warrant a local person on the UK Cabinet, especially a UUP representative.
Also, the two parties have squabbled over all the details, which led to them choosing such a terrible name. Jeffrey Peel (Vice Chair of Conservatives NI) resigned in protest at the way it was all handled, when he realised the UUP didn't have "the interests of Conservativism at heart". Sir Reg Empey has also angered many Conservatives by saying they are "clearly to the left of Labour" on many policies.
The UUP leaked the new full name to the press early, and the Conservatives responded by leaking the new logo. The new alliance was off to a bad start.
Conservative HQ demanded control of the local associations website (conservativesni.com) and re-directed it to an NI page on their main website. Many Conservatives aren't happy, and renegades have set-up a group calling themselves 'Clear Blue Water Conservatives' who are twitting away about their disapprovals. It's not looking good for the UUP-Conservative pact!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Clear Blue Water Conservatives
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6 comments:
Has the UUP ever had ANYONE's interest at heart (except their own, of course) ?
The worst decision the UU's have made in a long time
Good post. I think (and hope) this will be a disaster. Unionism was historically successful when it was able to cut across class lines. Carson and, especially, Craig went out of their way to appease the more militant working-class elements of the Unionist movement and made sure the Independent Orange Lodges were subsumed into the movement as a whole for that reason. O'Neill's rhetoric about modernisation was to cut off Protestant support for the NILP and it worked remarkably well.
Unionism has been on the back foot since the populist element followed Paisley and the DUP so by entrenching the UUP as the party of the bourgeoisie it will be very difficult to recreate any sort of monolithic movement again. Of course, Conservatism aspires to cut across class lines too but it carries baggage that will put off even socially conservative members of the working class who are better catered for by the DUP. I just can't see the logic of this from a Unionist perspective.
My own thoughts here: http://roevalleysocialist.blogspot.com
Are the UUP's still thinking the voters are 'gulls'
I question how much Carson or Craig appeased the militant working-class elements. I believe they were largely instrumental in creating or at the very least exacerbating that militancy for their own ends. I watched Ian Paisley do exactly the same thing leading to another generation of divisivness, hatred and destruction.
It is true that they manipulated it, especially from 1914 onwards but don't forget that once the NI state was created the UVF was institutionalised as the B Specials and the RUC which wedded their interests to the interests of Craig in keeping NI together. They created and manipulated it but they also needed to keep it from dropping its support for the Unionist government. Craig spent vast sums of money (much to the anger of the Treasury) on making sure the militants were appeased, the Unionist government scaremongered over people from the south taking jobs to divide the working classes and stood over discriminatory employment practices in the public sector and in factories to appease the militant hard-liners. Ian Paisley's rise is a consequence of the Unionist Party not doing enough to satisfy the extreme right-wing of Unionism (as if the growth of Vanguard). The rise of Paiselyism is the end of Unionist Party hegemony over working-class Unionism.
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