By UUP standards, it was a well-attended and good natured EGM. There certainly was none of the vicious repeated rancour which ripped the party asunder during the David Trimble era between the Yes and No camps over the UUP’s role in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
Rather than a defensive pose of ‘what we have, we hold’, the UUP grassroots has put its trust in the supposed Burrows/Armstrong ‘dream team’ and has gone on a ‘we want to take back what we once held’ attack mode.
The clock is ticking and the ‘dream team’ has around 15 months until the May 2027 council and Assembly elections to determine if this new-look Confident Unionism appeals to the electorate in Northern Ireland.
Outgoing leader Mike Nesbitt, who has retained his Stormont Executive Ministerial post of Health in the new leadership, seems to have steadied HMS UUP. There’s certainly no more daft notions of ‘Vote Mike, Get Colum’ which sunk Nesbitt’s first stint as party leader.
Under Nesbitt Mark Two, the UUP has stabilised itself in the opinion polls, has re-written its party rules, put a new staff team in place, and sorted the party’s finances. Effectively, he has created the perception that the posts of leader and deputy leader are no longer poisoned chalices in the UUP.
From the party mood and political temperature of the EGM, the UUP’s days of pussy-footing as a wannabe Alliance Party are over. Part of the UUP’s problem over the past decade is that the party’s didn’t really know what it stood for.
It stumbled from election to election like a thoroughly drunk male pensioner trying to find his way home from a dark, cold night at the pub by staggering and slipping across ice-covered streets.
Whilst most of the folk at the EGM were ‘well on’ in years age-wise, there is a genuine hunger to attract more young people and women into the party, and especially to stand as candidates in 2027. But it will require common sense policies if the UUP is to once again become the natural home of the pro-Union community.
Armstrong becomes the first woman in over a century of the party’s existence to hold the post of deputy leader. She also adds Chief Whip to her portfolio of responsibility.
Her late father, former UUP boss Harry West, established his power base in the party using the pressure group, the West Ulster Unionist Council.
Under his daughter’s reign as deputy leader, expect to see an increasing role for the Ulster Women’s Unionist Council within the party.
The EGM has unveiled a rebranding of the UUP which presents it as dynamic Unionism; urging folk to show a pride in the Union and become the chief champions of Northern Ireland being an integral part of the UK.
Put bluntly, the ‘dream team’ wants the UUP to become the chief cheer leader for Northern Ireland. Security is at the heart of this rebranding.
Burrows has been keen to point out that Northern Ireland is now at its most peaceful for 50 years, so that any meddling with the constitution is merely a leap in the dark.
He wants the UUP to become the party of strategic Unionism, and this means taking ownership of the peace process and slam Sinn Fein for suppressing the good news about Northern Ireland.
Burrows points to the importance of national security; that the organised crime gangs are now globally connected and that Northern Ireland is a central lynchpin in protecting that national security compared to the Republic of Ireland.
Burrows is likewise keen to put an end to the internal bickering which has bedevilled the UUP for decades. During the Trimble era, the No camp on the Belfast Agreement rallied itself around the pressure group Union First, while the Yes camp had its own version, Re:Union.
‘We can’t keep having arguments with ourselves; we must agree to move on’ - a clear warning to those in the UUP ranks who feel Burrows and Armstrong are a political gamble because both were co-opted to Stormont.
But does this mean the new look UUP will be Left-wing, Right-wing, liberal or traditional? It seems none of these terms will apply to the rebranded UUP. Yes, the UUP will need detailed policies which are communicated with the utmost and absolute clarity. Yes, the UUP must listen to its members and the community.
Under the Burrows/Armstrong leadership, it seems the UUP will develop its own team of social media ‘attack dogs’ - with Alliance, Sinn Fein and those who want to rewrite the history of the Troubles firmly in their sights.
Burrows is a firm believer in the power of social media to influence potential members and voters. He is equally clear on the topic of Unionist unity - there will be no single party; no mergers. It’ll be a case of ‘we’ll do Unionist co-operation on our terms!’
Burrows’ message to the DUP is brutally honest - we want to replace you as the biggest Unionist party in Northern Ireland.
As the dozens of delegates at the EGM enjoyed their complementary tea, coffee and scones, the ‘dream team’ left them with plenty to both digest and ponder politically.
For those on the liberal wing of the party, they need to recognise that the past ‘fluffy bunny, snowflake politics’ of sucking up to the Alliance-type voter base is parked.
For those on the Hard Right of the UUP, will they face disciplinary action if they use social media to push a Right-wing agenda.
For the church-going clique, does the perception the UUP supports a ‘pluralist society’ sound alarm bells. After all, the EGM began with the saying of the Ulster Unionist Party Prayer. May 2027 will answer all these queries.
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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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