Ulster Unionist

Closer links with the Ulster Unionist Party

Conservative Party (Free subscription) | 8 hours ago

David Cameron has pledged to give the people of Northern Ireland "a new choice" after starting discussions with the UUP.

Ulster Unionist and Conservatives

Slugger O'Toole (Free subscription) | 20 hours ago

Well, well, well. Here’s a thing. The news from David Cameron and Reg Empey in tomorrow’s Daily Telegraph is that the Conservative Party and the Ulster Unionist Party have agreed to set up “a joint working group to explore the possibilities of a closer cooperation leading to the creation of a new political and electoral force in Northern Ireland”. Slugger understands that although the decision was...

Ulster Unionists and Tories to field joint candidates

The Independent (Free subscription) | 20 hours ago

The Conservatives and the Ulster Unionist Party will today set out plans to "create a new political force in Northern Ireland".

• The Conservative AND Unionist Party - ConservativeHome's ToryDiary

A Conservative-Ulster Unionist merger?

timrollpickering (Free subscription) | 8 hours ago

The news that the Conservatives and the Ulster Unionists are to explore moves towards a joint party ( ConservativeHome: The Conservative AND Unionist Party and Conservatives in Northern Ireland: A Historic Statement by David Cameron and Sir Reg Empey) has come as a surprise to me, which is a credit to the discrete negotiation skills of Owen Paterson and stands in complete contrast to the way attempts...

Rescuing Ulster from provincialism

Daniel Hannan (Free subscription) | 3 hours ago

The reconciliation of the Conservatives and the UUP brings to an end an unhappy breach within the Unionist family. Ulster Unionist MPs sat with the Tories in Westminster until 1974, and the two parties retained residual links until 1985, when the Anglo-Irish Agreement drove Unionists into outright opposition. Both sides stand to gain from federation. Quite apart from being able to add an extra MP...

How the Tories and the UUP came together

David Llewellyn (Free subscription) | 3 hours ago

The thing that has surprised the Conservatives most about their announcement this morning that they are seeking to forge a new alliance with the Ulster Unionist Party is that it didn't leak in advance. I gather that talks have been going on between the two parties for months, with Owen Paterson, the shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, making weekly...

Empey/ Cameron statement should be welcomed despite difficulties it raises.

Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness (Free subscription) | 8 hours ago

For some time it has been known that Sir Reg Empey has an interest in aligning the Ulster Unionist Party more closely with David Cameron’s Conservatives. At the UUP’s AGM the leader’s speech committed the party to working closely with the Tories in the European Parliament. Empey’s instinct looks set to crystallise into a more concrete arrangement with the two party leaders releasing a joint statement...

Ulster Tory Quiz of the Day?

Slugger O'Toole (Free subscription) | 6 hours ago

Who was the last Ulster Unionist MP to serve as a minister in UK adminstration? [Answer below the fold]

On the UUP - Tories seek Northern Ireland alliance

Mandate Communications blog (Free subscription) | 8 hours ago

David Cameron has announced that the Conservatives are in talks with the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) to forge a new alliance which could revitalise the “old politics” of Northern Ireland. It is reported that private negotiations have been taking place since October with UUP leader Sir Reg Empey (right) to explore how the Tories and UUP could [...]

Before we all get too excited…

Slugger O'Toole (Free subscription) | 6 hours ago

Just the thing to distract me from packing for the holidays… I've decided to pull this up from a comment to a blog. After the first flush of excitement the next questions are: What impact would a Conservative/ Ulster Unionist alliance have on the politics of power sharing? The move seems likely to provoke a quickening response on the nationalist side. Will the SDLP and Fianna Fail go tit-for tat? Might...

Tories and UUP consider forming closer links

Belfast Telegraph (Free subscription) | 9 hours ago

The British Conservative Party and the Ulster Unionist Party in the North have confirmed that they are holding talks about forming closer links.

At last, some good news!

A Pint of Unionist Lite (Free subscription) | 11 hours ago

Very happy to read this and I make no apologies for printing it in full : Joint Statement by David Cameron MP, Leader of the Conservative Party & Sir Reg Empey MLA, Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. This is the full text of a statement that was published in the Daily Telegraph today, July 24th, 2008. "Northern Ireland is a better place today than it was a decade ago. There are grounds for confidence...

UUP, Tories in alliance talks

SAOIRSE32 (Free subscription) | 12 hours ago

RTÉ Thursday, 24 July 2008 07:32 The Ulster Unionist party is in talks with the British Conservative Party about joining forces to create a new political movement in Northern Ireland. The Tory leader, David Cameron, revealed that talks have been under way between for the last few months, leading to a decision last week to set up a working group. One of the issues to be discussed is the possibility...

CAMERONIAN FANTASY....

Tangled Blog (Free subscription) | 12 hours ago

Did you read that the Conservative Party has been holding secret talks with the Ulster Unionist Party in an effort to restore a link shattered 30 years ago? Under the new arrangement, Ulster Unionist MPs would take the Tory whip and be offered posts in any future government. It would pave the way for the Conservatives to fight seats in Northern Ireland for the first time since the early days of the...

Dave's a Union Man

An Englishman's Castle (Free subscription) | 13 hours ago

David Cameron launches biggest Conservative shake-up for decades - Telegraph Under the new arrangement, Ulster Unionist MPs would take the Tory whip and be offered posts in any future government. The move to restore a link severed more than 30...