The scale of the challenge should not be underestimated with many in grassroots Unionism craving the supposed Holy Grail of Unionist Unity given the number of seats the pro-Union family has lost over the decades to infighting, personality clashes, failing to transfer, and voter apathy.
The phrase “reel the TUV in towards our UUP orbit” was made by Burrows during a ‘meet the public’ event in Limavady last week organised by the East Londonderry UUP Association.
If ever North Antrim MLA Burrows needed a reminder of the scale of the challenge facing the UUP as a party, it was here in the centre of the East Londonderry constituency.
The constituency, formed in 1983, once boasted for the UUP a Westminster MP, two Stormont Assembly members and a solid representation at local government level. It’s a very different picture in 2026 for the UUP: no MP, no MLAs, a handful of councillors and the Westminster seat itself now a marginal between the DUP and Sinn Fein.
As things stand, the constituency has three unionist MLAs - two DUP and Independent Claire Sugden. Potentially, there are three pro-Union quotas in East Londonderry, so could Unionist co-operation return one DUP, one UUP and one TUV, or is that just wishful thinking?
Whilst many people and pundits are trying to put political labels on a Burrows UUP leadership - will it be liberal or traditional - the former top cop maintains that “politics needs to be reset” and Northern Ireland “needs a Stormont that is more efficient”.
Just as a former Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O’Neill once said the province was at a crossroads, Burrows has introduced his own political vocabulary - that Northern Ireland “is at a fork in the road” and only the UUP can give that direction.
But now the reality check. The UUP is behind both the DUP and TUV in some opinion polls. With the latest buzz phrase ‘Unionist co-operation’, is it possible a pan unionist front could be created in time for the crucial local government and Assembly elections in May 2027?
Whilst there is a desire for Unionist co-operation and vote transferring among the pro-Union parties at grassroots level, Burrows faces two massive political migraines in trying to make this a reality.
Firstly, can the DUP be trusted to deliver on its side of the bargain as many in the UUP still recall the verbal onslaughts on the party during the Paisleyite era. Secondly, both the DUP and UUP are pro-Stormont in terms of wanting to make devolution work, whilst the TUV strategy is perceived to be wanting to collapse Stormont and have Direct Rule from Westminster restored.
Burrows quite openly says he wants to build a “strong, sensible and strategic Unionism”, but how can he build Unionist co-operation if one of the three players - the TUV - is pulling tactically in the opposite direction of the other two?
Apart from the perception that the TUV wants to collapse Stormont completely, the fear among the pro-Union community is that if the Assembly falls again, it will not be replaced by 1970s-style Direct Rule, but by Joint Authority between the Dail and Westminster.
The other perception is that the TUV is not transfer-friendly in terms of voting strength. In a previous Stormont election, the TUV polled some 66,000 first preference votes across the province, but had only one MLA in North Antrim to show for this.
Using his own soundbite, which “fork in the road” does Burrows take with the TUV given the latter’s steady increase in support in the opinion polls? Does he move the UUP to a hardline Right-wing position, ignore the TUV and pray that Unionist voters opt for just the DUP and UUP, or the radical plan of persuading - or ‘reeling’ - the TUV “towards our UUP orbit”?
Put bluntly, how does Burrows - and the UUP to be honest - bring the TUV ‘in from the cold’ and make it one of the main coalition partners in a new look co-operative Unionism capable not just of winning seats, but persuading both apathetic and first-time voters of turning out on polling day and actually voting for the UUP especially and the other pro-Union parties and candidates?
Whilst it was only a snap shot of political gossip, the mood of that meeting in East Londonderry was that there are supposedly rumblings within the TUV that it reportedly really don’t want to bring down Stormont.
But for Burrows, the key strategy is the need to sell Northern Ireland to the voters:
We’re world leaders in so many sectors, but we’re not telling the story enough, especially that the Union is the best thing for national security.
Burrows didn’t use terms such as ‘liberal’ or ‘moderate’ to attract centre ground voters back to the UUP. He seemed to prefer the term ‘Passionate Unionism’.
Perhaps what Burrows needs to do is copy Sinn Fein’s rise to prominence from the Sixties when it was nothing more than a social club to remember the failed 1916 Easter Rising, through to the virtually daily mouth piece of the Provisional IRA, to now the leading nationalist party in Northern Ireland at all levels of government.
Sinn Fein is a ruthless political movement; a seat is not the person’s; it belongs to the party. Sinn Fein believes in the long game and has some cunning strategists.
Whilst they may be polished in their appearances at Stormont and the media, the party lacks ‘big ideological thinkers’ especially among its MLA team. But it does boast a relentless organisation especially in communication. It is drilled in its hunger for Irish Unity.
Burrows needs to inspire that same hunger and desire among pro-Union voters for the Union. He wants the UUP specifically to be a party of practical support, not wokeism.
But before he sells his vision to the other parties, especially “reeling in the TUV”, he needs to convince his own party of that vision at his political coronation on Saturday.
Two other soundbites were noted at that East Londonderry meeting which will be of vital importance in the coming days, weeks, and months - “disunity will kill us” and “you must be loyal to your party and your colleagues”.
But my favourite soundbite of the evening summarises Burrows’ vision: “The UUP should be proud of our ambassadorship for Northern Ireland and we should be the evangelists for the Union.”
If Burrows can convince the pro-Union electorate of that ethos, the UUP is back in business at the polls.
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| Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter John is a Director for Belfast’s Christian radio station, Sunshine 1049 FM. |
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