Northern Ireland Conservatives

The Conservative Party was first represented in Ireland in the form of the Irish Conservative Party, which operated across the island. The Irish Conservatives became part of the Irish Unionist Alliance (IUA) in 1891. By this stage, the Conservatives' electoral base was largely restricted to Ulster and Dublin. The IUA's Members of Parliament took the Conservative Party whip at Westminster, but the organisation retained a level of independence. Following the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the IUA dissolved.Pádraig Yeates, Dublin: A City in Turmoil: Dublin 1919 – 1921 (Gill & Macmillan Ltd, 28 September 2012) Its successor in Northern Ireland was the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

From 1922, the Conservative Party maintained formal links with the UUP, its members taking the Conservative whip in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, much like the then-independent Unionist Party of Scotland, which integrated into the party in England and Wales in the 1960s. This relationship broke down in 1972, following Unionist opposition to the proposed Sunningdale Agreement, when all but one of the UUP MPs resigned the Conservative whip. The sole exception, Stratton Mills, left the UUP and continued to take the whip for a further year, before joining the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. Another UUP MP, Robin Chichester-Clark, became Minister of State for Employment in the Conservative government from April 1972 to February 1974.

The Conservative Party did not organise in Northern Ireland until the late 1980s, when three Unionist members of North Down Borough Council, including George Green, defected to the party. The party doubled its representation there in the local government elections of 1989, becoming the largest party on the council. An Independent Conservative also won a seat on Lisburn Borough council,{{cite web|url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/85-89lglisburn.htm |title=Local Government Elections 1985–1989: Lisburn |publisher=Ark.ac.uk |access-date=1 July 2016}}Gordon Lucy, Northern Ireland Local Government Election Results, Ulster Society Press, 1993 although he joined the UUP before the 1993 local elections. In the 1989 European Elections the Conservative candidate polled 4.8% and was just 2,000 first preference votes behind the Alliance Party candidate.

Subsequently, the Conservatives were boosted by a number of other defectors. Former UUP Assembly members Dorothy Dunlop and Billy Bleakes defected in Belfast and Lisburn respectively, while Robert Mitchell, a former Stormont MP, defected in Coleraine. Mary Ardill, wife of prominent former Stormont MP Austin Ardill, joined in Carrick; Gary Haggan defected from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Larne, and independent unionist and former DUP politician Billy Dickson in Belfast. Lloyd Hall-Thompson, another retired former UUP Stormont politician, became chair of the local Lagan Valley branch.{{cite web |url=http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/biographies.html |title=Northern Ireland Parliamentary Elections Results: Biographies |publisher=Election.demon.co.uk |access-date=1 July 2016 |archive-date=7 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507132124/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/biographies.html |url-status=dead }}

The 1992 general election saw the Conservatives stand in Northern Ireland for the first time. Laurence Kennedy came closest to winning a seat in North Down, finishing second behind James Kilfedder and gaining 32% of the vote.{{cite journal |last=Coulter |first=Colin |year=2001 |title=The origins of the Northern Ireland conservatives |url=|journal=Irish Political Studies |language=en |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=29–48 |doi=10.1080/07907180108406631 |s2cid=143564307 |issn=0790-7184}}

The Conservatives have for some time maintained a close relationship with the UUP. The former UUP leader and First Minister, David Trimble was elevated to the House of Lords on losing his Commons seat. Shortly after standing down from the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2007, he took the Conservative whip. On doing so he made it clear that he would not be campaigning on behalf of the Northern Ireland Conservatives in opposition to his former party.[http://www.davidtrimble.org/latestnews_joinstories.htm Announcement] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703082821/http://www.davidtrimble.org/latestnews_joinstories.htm |date= 3 July 2007 }} "I will no longer be campaigning in Northern Ireland for Ulster Unionists, but, having got through the Assembly election in good shape, I am confident for their future. I want to thank all those in Ulster Unionism for their help and friendship over the years, to assure them that I will continue to be committed to Ulster’s place within the Union and that I will never campaign against them."

In July 2008, David Cameron and Sir Reg Empey announced a working group to develop a partnership with the UUP.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/jul/24/davidcameron.conservatives | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Cameron plans partnership with Ulster Unionists | first=Deborah | last=Summers | date=24 July 2008 | access-date=30 April 2010}} This was implemented in 2009, forming the "Ulster Conservatives and Unionists" for certain electoral purposes, though the Vice Chairman of Conservatives NI, Jeffrey Peel, resigned from the Joint Committee created by both parties.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7928536.stm | work=The BBC | location=London | title=Conservative quits over UUP pact | first=BBC | last=NI | date=6 March 2009 | access-date=16 June 2012}} Also, Lady Sylvia Hermon, the UUP MP for North Down, resigned the UUP whip in March 2010 in protest at the tie-up.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/mp-hermon-resigns-from-uup-1-1845848|title=MP Hermon resigns from UUP|website=www.newsletter.co.uk}}

The two parties stood as the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - New Force at the 2009 European Parliament election and 2010 UK General Election.

On 14 June 2012, the Conservatives in Northern Ireland were relaunched as NI Conservatives.{{cite news| url=http://www.niconservatives.com/news/ni-conservatives-launch-fresh-centre-right-party-belfast | work=NI Conservatives | location=Belfast | title=NI Conservatives launch as fresh, centre-right party, in Belfast | first=Owen | last=Polley | date=14 June 2012 | access-date=15 June 2012}} The party is now autonomous on devolved matters, although it remains a full part of the national Conservative and Unionist Party. The party had a councillor on Larne Council, Dr Brian Dunn.{{cite web|url=http://www.niconservatives.com/person/councillor-brian-dunn|title=Councillor Brian Dunn|work=NI|access-date=15 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204060701/http://www.niconservatives.com/person/councillor-brian-dunn|archive-date=4 December 2012|url-status=dead}} Dunn was first elected as a UUP candidate in 2001, and was last elected as an independent before joining the Conservatives.{{cite web|url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/lglarne.htm|title=Larne Council Elections 1993–2011|work=ark.ac.uk}} He did not stand for re-election in 2014 for health reasons. The party nominated Mark Brotherston as its candidate in the European Parliament elections in 2014,{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-27150784|title=BBC News - European election candidates in Northern Ireland revealed|newspaper=BBC News|date=24 April 2014|last1=Purdy|first1=Martina}} but he failed to be elected, coming last with 0.7% of first preference votes.

The party stood in 16 out of the 18 Northern Ireland constituencies at the 2015 general election,[https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2015-northern-ireland-32233067 Election 2015: 138 candidates vying for 18 NI seats], BBC News (9 April 2015). although most of its candidates were from outside Northern Ireland.{{cite web|author=Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) |url=http://sluggerotoole.com/2015/04/15/ni-conservatives-notsponsored-by-flybe/ |title=NI Conservatives - (not)Sponsored by FlyBe |publisher=Sluggerotoole.com |date=15 April 2015 |access-date=1 July 2016}} Although the Conservative Party won a majority of seats UK-wide, the party received only 1.3% of the vote in Northern Ireland (9,055 votes) and failed to win any seats.

File:Northern Ireland Conservatives by constituency - general election 2015.svg

The party regained a council seat when former UUP Coleraine ex-Mayor and Causeway Coast and Glens councillor David Harding joined the party.{{cite web|last=Blogger |first=Digital |url=http://www.causewaycoastcommunity.co.uk/news/david-harding-to-stand-in-assembly-elections-for-ni-conservatives/ |title=David Harding to stand in Assembly Elections for NI Conservatives |publisher=Causeway Coast Community |date=1 April 2016 |access-date=1 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503171018/http://www.causewaycoastcommunity.co.uk/news/david-harding-to-stand-in-assembly-elections-for-ni-conservatives/ |archive-date= 3 May 2016 }}

They stood 12 candidates in 11 of the 18 constituencies in the 2016 Assembly elections. They won no seats, with candidates obtaining between 0.1% and 2.1% of the first preference votes. They stood one candidate each in 13 of the 18 constituencies in the 2017 Assembly elections, but won no seats. The Northern Ireland Conservatives stood candidates in 7 of the 18 constituencies in the 2017 general election. They won a total of 3,895 votes and no seats.{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2017/results/northern_ireland | work=BBC News | title=Election 2017 results: Northern Ireland | date=9 June 2017}}

The party nominated Amandeep Singh Bhogal as its candidate for the 2019 European Parliament election, but he was not elected, coming last with 662 first preference votes (0.12%).{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-48370936|title=European elections: Long, Dodds and Anderson elected|work=BBC News|date=27 May 2019}}

As of the NI Conservatives AGM in June 2024, the members of the Executive Council are as follows:[https://www.niconservatives.com/news/northern-ireland-conservatives-agm Northern Ireland Conservatives website, NI Conservatives AGM, article dated 19 November 2024]

• President - Graham Stuart Brady, Baron Brady of Altrincham, PC
• Vice President - Matthew Robinson
• Vice President - Lynn Jervis
• Chairman - Paul Leeman
• Deputy Chairman (Political) - Jason Reid
• Deputy Chairman (Membership) - Ailyn Majury
• Treasurer - Frank Shivers

Officers as of 2023 include;

• East Belfast Officer - Jamie Clough
• North Down Officer - Ailyn Majury
• Lagan Valley Officer - Iain Lees

Constituency Representatives are also situated within the structure of the party with representatives sitting on the federation council.

The party in Northern Ireland was largely opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, in contrast to the national leadership who were in favour.{{cite web|first=Nicholas |last=Whyte |url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/gparties.htm |date=3 July 2005 |title=Northern Ireland Political Parties |publisher=Ark.ac.uk |access-date=1 July 2016}}

{{main|Northern Ireland Conservatives election results}}

The Northern Ireland Conservatives have a low support base, attracting 0.5% of the poll (3,500 votes) in the 2007 Assembly election. {{As of|2019}}, they have no elected representatives in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Local Government or Parliament.

The party's best performance came in the 1992 general election, when party candidates polled 44,608 votes across Northern Ireland: 5.7% of the total. Its best performance came in the North Down constituency, where the local party chairman, Laurence Kennedy, came second, 5,000 votes behind the sitting MP James Kilfedder.

Subsequently, the party declined rapidly. In the 1993 council elections, the party lost five council seats, being reduced to six councillors across Northern Ireland. In North Down, the party's support more than halved, from 25% in 1989 to 11% in 1993, although they narrowly managed to win a seat in all four North Down electoral areas. Laurence Kennedy quit Northern Irish politics a few months later, while the party's councillors in Lisburn and Carrick left the party to sit as Independent Unionists. In 1997 they were reduced to two council seats in North Down. Both councillors retired before the 2001 council elections and the party failed to defend one of its seats in 2001 with the other lost, leaving them without elected representation in Northern Ireland.

In the 2024 general election, the party gained a total of 553 votes across NI; this was down from their 2019 election share.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2019/results/northern_ireland BBC website, Election 2019: Northern Ireland]

For results of other NI parties which were affiliated historically with the Conservatives, see the following pages:

• 1835–1886
• 1892–1918
• 1922–1974

{{portal|Conservatism}}

• Scottish Conservatives
• Welsh Conservatives
• Labour Party in Northern Ireland

{{reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.niconservatives.com/ Official website of the Northern Ireland Conservatives]

{{UK Conservative Party}}

{{Political parties in Northern Ireland|Conservative Party}}

{{British political parties}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conservatives Northern Ireland}}

Category:1980s establishments in Northern Ireland

Category:Conservative parties in Ireland

Northern Ireland

Category:Political parties in Northern Ireland

Category:Protestant political parties

Category:Ulster unionist organisations