Everything about Progressive Unionist Party totally explained
» See Ulster Progressive Unionist Association, for the political group founded in 1938
The
Progressive Unionist Party (
PUP) is a small
political party from
Northern Ireland. They were formed from the
Independent Unionist Group operating in the
Shankill area of
Belfast becoming the PUP in
1979. Linked to the
Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) they're the left-wing party of
unionism in Northern Ireland, with their main support base in the
loyalist working class communities of Belfast.
Party Leaders
History
The party has had a degree of electoral success. In
1994 PUP leader
Hugh Smyth became
Lord Mayor of
Belfast, and in the
1996 elections to the Northern Ireland Forum they secured two seats, with
Hugh Smyth and
David Ervine both being elected. The PUP supported the
Belfast Agreement and in the
1998 election to the
Northern Ireland Assembly they also won two seats, with representatives
Billy Hutchinson and David Ervine elected from the Belfast North and East constituencies respectively, though they proceeded to lose one in the
2003 election, leaving Ervine as their sole Assembly representative. This was followed by a poor showing in the Northern Ireland local election of 2005, where Smyth and Ervine were their only two members to retain their seats on local authorities, and the party now seems to be in a state of decline.
Their position on the left of the political spectrum differentiates them from the other unionist parties (such as the
Ulster Unionist Party and the
Democratic Unionist Party) which tend to be more conservative in outlook.
Following an inter-loyalist feud between the UVF and
Loyalist Volunteer Force, in which four men were murdered by the UVF in Belfast, after which recognition of the UVF's ceasefire was withdrawn by the British government, the PUP debated ending its "special relationship" with the UVF but this was defeated in a closed vote at the party's annual conference in October 2005.
In March 2006, the Chairman of the PUP, Dawn Purvis, a research associate at the
University of Ulster was appointed as an independent member of the
Northern Ireland Policing Board.
The BBC reported on
13th May 2006 that PUP leader
David Ervine was set to join the
Ulster Unionist Party grouping in the
Northern Ireland Assembly, a move which was expected to give
Unionists an extra ministerial position, however this was deemed against the rules of the Assembly.
It was reported on the
8 January 2007 that David Ervine died in hospital after suffering a heart attack. At a meeting of the party's East Belfast association on 18 January, Dawn Purvis was selected to contest
East Belfast in the forthcoming
2007 Assembly election.
At a meeting of the PUP executive on 22 January 2007 Dawn Purvis was chosen as the new party leader, the first woman to lead a unionist party in Northern Ireland
(External Link
). On 1 February 2007, Dr John Kyle, a local GP was co-opted on to
Belfast City Council to fill the seat left vacant by David Ervine's death.
Assembly Elections, March 2007
The election was for 108 seats spread evenly across 18 constituencies.
The PUP fielded 3 candidates: Elaine Martin in
North Down, Andrew Park in
Belfast South and Dawn Purvis in
Belfast East. Overall the party polled 3,822 votes or 0.6% of the votes cast in Northern Ireland, down 0.6% from the Elections of 2003.
Dawn Purvis was elected to represent Belfast East polling 3,045 votes (10.3%), finishing 5th out of the 15 candidates.
Retention of weapons, May 2007
On 3rd May 2007
Gusty Spence read out the statement by the Ulster Volunteer Force announcing it'll keep its weapons and a warning that activities could "provoke another generation of loyalists toward armed resistance". He didn't specify what activities or what was being resisted.
However, the arms decommissioning body has said this didn't meet the requirements set out in government legislation. The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning urged the UVF to work with it to destroy its weaponry.
It said it welcomed the statement, but was "concerned by their intention to deal with their arms without the involvement of the IICD".
Further Information
Get more info on 'Progressive Unionist Party'.
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