| Traditional Unionist Voice | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Leader | Jim Allister QC |
| Chairperson | Ivor McConnell |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | 139 Holywood Road, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland BT4 3BE |
| Ideology | Unionism, British nationalism, Christian fundamentalism, National conservatism, Social conservatism, Euroscepticism |
| Political position | Right-wing, Unionist |
| International affiliation | None |
| European affiliation | None |
| European Parliament Group | Non-Inscrits |
| Official colours | Red, White and Blue |
| Website | |
| http://www.tuv.org.uk/ | |
| Politics of Northern Ireland Political parties Elections |
|
Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland [1] founded on 7 December 2007, as an anti-St Andrews Agreement splinter group from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Its first and current Leader is Jim Allister who, until 2009, sat as an independent Member of the European Parliament, having been elected for the DUP in 2004.[2][3] In the 2009 European elections Allister lost his seat when he stood as a TUV candidate. TUV has close ties to the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).[4]
The four founding principles of the new movement are [5]
- retention of the Union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain
- commitment to a form of devolution that rejects mandatory coalition
- that the rule of law must prevail in every part of Northern Ireland and be administered without fear or favour
- support for traditional family values
Contents |
Dromore By-Election
The party's first electoral contest was the Dromore local government by-election for Banbridge District Council[6] which took place on Wednesday 13 February 2008 [7]with their candidate being Dromore solicitor, Keith Harbinson. He took 19.5% of the 1st preference votes cast.
TUV were the last party to be eliminated, and more of their votes transferred to the UUP than to the DUP, enabling the former to retain its seat.[8]
| Dromore By-Election – 14 February 2008 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Count 1 | Count 2 | Count 3 | Count 4 | Count 5 | ||||
| Democratic Unionist | Paul Stewart | 1069 | 1074 | 1127 | 1178 | 1508 | ||||
| Ulster Unionist | Carol Black | 912 | 937 | 1119 | 1194 | 1571 | ||||
| Traditional Unionist Voice | Keith Harbinson | 739 | 742 | 801 | 828 | -828 | ||||
| Alliance | David Griffin | 357 | 479 | -479 | ||||||
| Sinn Féin | Paul Gribben | 350 | 507 | 567 | -567 | |||||
| Social Democratic and Labour | John Drake | 290 | -290 | |||||||
| Green (NI) | Helen Corry | 59 | -59 | |||||||
| Electorate=9688, valid=3776, spoiled=17, quota=1889 | ||||||||||
European Parliament Election 2009
Leader of the TUV Jim Allister, contested the European Parliament election on Thursday 4th June 2009. He stood on a ticket of opposition to the DUP/SF led power-sharing government in Belfast.[9] The contest turned out to be hotly contested in which the unionist vote was split three ways. Sinn Féin's sitting MEP Bairbre de Brún topped the poll (a first for any nationalist or republican candidate). The Ulster Conservative and Unionist Party's Jim Nicholson took the second seat with Diane Dodds of the DUP coming in third place, defeating Jim Allister. The TUV polled very well, picking up 66,000 votes. Jim Allister called the results a victory for unionism and indicated his intention to stand TUV candidates in future Stormont Assembly and Parliament of the United Kingdom elections. Allister commented, "It shows the depth of feeling that there is among many unionists who refuse to be rolled over in the era of Sinn Féin rule, who have quite rightly a resentment against those who betrayed them, deceived them, conned them, in the assembly election."
Results
| Party | Candidate | Seats | Loss/Gain | First Preference Votes | Seat | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % of vote | ||||||
| Sinn Féin | Bairbre de Brún | 1 | 0 | 126,184 | 25.8 | 1st | |
| Democratic Unionist | Diane Dodds | 1 | 0 | 88,346 | 18.1 | 2nd | |
| Ulster Conservatives and Unionists | Jim Nicholson | 1 | 0 | 82,892 | 17.0 | 3rd | |
| Social Democratic and Labour | Alban Maginness | 0 | 0 | 78,489 | 16.1 | ||
| Traditional Unionist Voice | Jim Allister | 0 | 0 | 66,197 | 13.5 | ||
| Alliance | Ian Parsley | 0 | 0 | 26,699 | 5.5 | ||
| Green (NI) | Steven Agnew | 0 | 0 | 15,764 | 3.2 | ||
| Turnout[10] | 488,891 | 42.8 | |||||
Source: RTÉ News
Allegations of anti-Irishness
On 4 November 2009, the party caused controversy when it referred to the Irish language as "Leprechaun language" on its website.[11] The party later removed the content, but the cached page on Google had already been spread on numerous other websites. Following this, unionist supporters set up a Facebook page to insult Irish speakers and the language.[12][13][14]
References
- ^ The Electoral Commission : Regulatory issues : Political parties : Registers : Register of political parties
- ^ BBC NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | New unionist group to be launched
- ^ Northern Ireland News - Allister Announces 'Alternative Ulster' Voice
- ^ Allister gathers national support
- ^ Traditional Unionist Voice Leaflet
- ^ TUV to contest Dromore by-election
- ^ by-election date
- ^ http://www.eoni.org.uk/dromore_result.pdf
- ^ "Who is Jim Allister? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8044057.stm
- ^ Electoral Office for Northern Ireland - Turnout
- ^ Screenshot of original page
- ^ 'tuv-blast-leprechaun-language-waste' Slugger O'Toole
- ^ TUV show true colours demeaning the Irish Language community.
- ^ NO LEPRECHAUN LANGUAGE ACT FOR BRITISH ULSTÈR! / facebook.
External links
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