Archive for category Unionism
Looking forward: Part 1
Posted by Editor in Conservatives, DUP, Elections, General, Peter Robinson, Polling, Republicanism, SDLP, TUV, The Union, UUP, Unionism, Westminster on June 8th, 2010
What has changed?
The 2010 Westminster election is over. While the poll outcome was inconclusive the upshot is a decisive shift in British Politics where a progressive coalition has burst through the liberal centre/right. In the process, there were no important phone calls to the Northern Ireland parties, who now sit on the Parliamentary margins.
The debates on national television provided an energy to the national election. Locally the election campaign was as lacklustre and uninspiring as the Party leaders on the local TV debates.
Commentary will resume…
Perhaps thedissenter should have commented in the run up to, and during, the election in Northern Ireland. But the build up to, and conduct of, the local campaigns was not exactly exciting; business beckoned, a bit of travel to be done, and it was time for a break.
So in retrospect and to bring thedissenter up to date…
Snake Oil
All the ingredients were there: the crisis, the Prime Ministers, the big house, the Belfast Telegraph survey, the Parties doing all night sittings and the press pack. At the end of all that we have the “Agreement at Hillsborough Castle” as it is officially described. Not a deal. Not “The Hillsborough Castle Agreement”. Nothing definitive, just ‘agreement’ as part of a step process: same process as the “Agreement at St Andrews‘.
Unionist Spring?
Posted by Editor in Conservatives, DUP, Elections, General, UUP, Unionism, Westminster on January 30th, 2010
Recent events in Northern Ireland have raised the possibility that there may be an Assembly election before a Westminster election. Depending on how current talks at Hillsborough and elsewhere progress, and for other electoral factors, it may not be Sinn Fein that seeks an election either before or at the same time as the Westminster poll.
One Man’s Call
Posted by Editor in DUP, General, Iris Robinson, Peter Robinson on January 19th, 2010
There is little honesty with adultery, not least towards the spouse who is unaware of the affair. It is a web of lies. The web of Iris Robinson grew complex: casual sex mixed with personal greed. Having persuaded others to provide £50,000 for the business of her young friend, she then seems to have decided that she should be rewarded with £5,000 cash. At this point, a quiet affair developed all the potential for financial scandal.
Does anyone seriously suggest that Iris Robinson would have told Peter Robinson all the details about her £5,000 kick-back, or her intention at some point to keep substantially more. The meetings, the go-between, the texts? Dishonesty underlies this story at every level.
There will be an election in 2010
Posted by Editor in Conservatives, DUP, Elections, General, SDLP, TUV, UUP, Unionism, Westminster on January 3rd, 2010
While generally there is nothing certain about the future, one 99.99% certainty for 2010 is a British Parliamentary Election. Voting must take place before the summer, and the general consensus is for a May poll, though March may still be possible if Gordon Brown wants to avoid an unpromsing budget and go for it.
Picture: parliament.uk picture gallery
The opinion polls are erratic, as discussed on thedissenter earlier, and the potential for a tightly hung Parliament is real. A party holding a small number of seats may gain considerable importance. So the performance of local parties is of national interest: though notional until the counts are complete.
Education and ideology conflict
In his speech to the recent Traditional Unionist Voice conference, Chairman of the National Grammar Schools Association, Robert McCartney, focused on the underlying conflict at the heart of the education debate in Northern Ireland.
Conservative Practicality.
Conservative policy generally seems to be one of practicality over principle, which would also seem to sum up David Cameron’s approach to most issues. Just as the new Conservative group in the European Parliament probably has more to do with domestic Party necessity than usefully making friends and influencing people (thedissenter), the Cameron policy of offering a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty is similarly practical.
Electorally, the Conservatives need a substantial swing to ensure a majority. UKPollingReport provides a fun way of keeping in touch with what the latest poll means with a simple swing calculator. A simple exercise on this swingometer shows the volatility of the electorate, and the electoral challenge that faces the Conservatives until May 2010.
This graph was grabbed on the 6th October.
European Election – AFTERSHOCK
The final outcome of the Northern Ireland European Election poll is not that much different to that anticipated by thedissenter in early May. Even so, the election has has the potential to shake the consensus on which the Belfast Agreement stands or falls. It was a better than expected election for Jim Allister of the TUV.
UUP win/lose with Conservatives in Europe.
Posted by Editor in Conservatives, Europe, Unionism on May 25th, 2009
The UUP presents its link with the Conservative Party as a way of being at the centre of UK politics. At the same time that link is likely to push the UUP to the margins of Europe.
The UUP alignment with the Conservatives is presented as part of a wider vision for ‘The Union’, and for the UUP to be at the centre of national discourse. As we edge towards the European Election, should Jim Nicholson win one of the three Northern Ireland seats he will return to Europe as part of a Conservative led group at the margins of European discourse. Read the rest of this entry »
Lady Sylvia Herman expresses doubts.
The sole Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Westminster MP Lady Sylvia Hermon finally, publicly, confirmed the widely held belief that she is unhappy with the Ulster Conservative and Unionist New Force (UCUNF). Following a BBC interview, the Belfast Telegraph has followed through with a series of points on which her disquiet may be founded: Read the rest of this entry »
Gunsmoke and Mirrors: by Henry McDonald
Posted by Editor in Book Review, Unionism on January 7th, 2009
Henry McDonald makes a valuable contribution to historical perspective on the role of Sinn Fein over the past half century. The theme of his book is ‘how Sinn Fein dressed up defeat as victory’. But it does more. The reader may be of a mind to believe that actions speak louder than words, or conversely that the pen is mightier than the sword. Either way, the bringing together of the words and deeds of the IRA/Sinn Fein over a period of over half a century is a sobering read.
Constructive Unionism
The Conservative Party and Ulster Unionist Party are to work together.
The two parties, and they are still two parties, have reached an accommodation. Vice-Chairman of the Northern Ireland Conservatives, Jeff Peel, provided some insight to Conservative thinking behind the arrangement on the regional Politics Show. The desire to create a new political space, offering the electorate something that is not based on the nationalist/unionist them/us equation, is to be applauded.
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