Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
Encyclopedia
The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party (VUPP), informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a unionist
political party which existed in Northern Ireland
between 1973 and 1978. It was closely affiliated with several loyalist
paramilitary
groups.
(UUP) who were opposed to the policies of the party's leader and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
, Brian Faulkner
. The Ulster Vanguard movement was originally a political pressure group within the UUP. It was formed on 9 February 1972 and was led by William Craig (former Minister of Home Affairs at Stormont
) with its deputy leaders Rev Martin Smyth
and the former Stormont MP for Carrick, Captain Austin Ardill
. At its first meeting in Lisburn
, on 13 February 1972, Craig made the first of a number of bellicose pronouncements, declaring "God help those who get in our way for we mean business."
After the suspension of the Stormont Parliament
, Faulkner moved towards a policy of power-sharing with nationalist and non-sectarian politicians under the Sunningdale Agreement
. In opposition to this many in the Ulster Unionists broke away and founded a separate Vanguard Party, with William Craig as the leader.
or even neo-Nazi with the Stormont unionist MP William McConnell claiming that Vanguard rallies involved "a certain Hitlerian-type figure ... walking up and down the lines, inspecting his so-called storm-troopers."
Ulster Vanguard was intended to provide an umbrella organisation for various loyalist groups.
It had close links with, and strong support from loyalist paramilitary groups. Vanguard had its own paramilitary grouping called the Vanguard Service Corps (USC) whose main function seemed to be to provide escorts for Vanguard speakers attending rallies.
At the Darlington Conference in September 1972, held to discuss various constitutional options for Northern Ireland, they proposed the restoration of the Northern Ireland Parliament as a single chamber assembly with a committee system to ensure greater participation by all parties. Internal security responsibilities would be restored however there would be a Bill of Rights
to safeguard the rights of minorities.
It demanded the "extermination" of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
and a reversal of the reforms introduced by Brian Faulkner and his predecessor, and in a booklet published in late 1972 entitled 'Community of the British Isles' it even flirted with the idea of full independence for Northern Ireland albeit within a structure which would also include Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
In late 1973 it rejected the idea of compulsory power sharing with Irish Nationalists and consequently refused invitations to take part in the conferences which led to the Sunningdale Agreement
.
In their 1974 Westminster manifesto, they called for the more mainstream Unionist option of either devolved government with full security responsibilities or full integration into the UK.
However there were occasions when it did not follow the same course as other right-wing or unionist parties. For example in the 1975 referendum
on the United Kingdom's membership of the-then European Economic Community
, it campaigned for the United Kingdom to remain a member whilst the other Unionist parties campaigned for withdrawal.
Following the suspension of Stormont and the imposition of direct rule in March 1972, Vanguard organised a general strike which affected power supplies, caused businesses to close and halted public transport. About 190,000 people participated and Vanguard members barricaded and took effective control of the town of Portadown
. Later 100,000 unionists converged on the drive leading to Stormont, where Craig addressed the crowds, but deferred to the outgoing Prime Minister Brian Faulkner who managed to disperse the crowds.
On 3 June 1972, VUPP organised a march in Derry
against the creation of no-go areas in Nationalist
districts which ended in violence on the city's Craigavon bridge. Despite the violence, Craig pledged to continue the marches stating: "We are no longer protesting - we are demanding action."
In February 1973 it was one of the only parties to support the two-day general strike organised by the Loyalist Association of Workers
in protest at the internment of Protestants. The strike had the further stated goal to "re-establish some kind of Protestant or loyalist control over the affairs in the province, especially over security policy" The strike resulted in high levels of violence with five people, including a fireman, being killed, seven people wounded, several explosions and numerous malicious fires.
The strike proved to be a forerunner of the Ulster Workers Council Strike the following year, in which VUPP again played a prominent role, making their headquarters in Hawthornden Road, Belfast, available to the strike leaders. with Craig a leading member of the UWC coordinating committee
In addition to large rallies, Vanguard used other tactics in order to try to put pressure on the British Government. In July 1972, they called for a rent and rate strike, a proposal which put them at odds with other unionist parties and which was criticized by the DUP
. Several months later, on 19 October 1972, Craig addressed a meeting of the right wing Conservative Monday Club
during which he claimed he could mobilise 80,000 men “who are prepared to come out and shoot and kill.”
, the October 1974 General Election
and the 1975 elections to the Constitutional Convention. The 1973 Sunningdale and local council elections were fought in an informal alliance with the DUP
as "the loyalist coalition" while the latter three were fought as part of the United Ulster Unionist Council
, a more formal arrangement, with the Democratic Unionist Party
and the Ulster Unionists, where the anti-Sunningdale wing of the party was now in control.
Source:
The number of Vanguard councillors elected in 1973 is a matter of some dispute among the various sources, as Whyte notes: "there is huge potential for confusion among the various candidate designations." As a minimum, James Knight, writing closest to the time, counted eight councillors CAIN counts nine Vanguard councillors - counting an additional councillor in Ards. Whyte counts ten, ignoring the councillor in Ards but counting two additional councillors in Craigavon
who he says were described as Vanguard councillors on the ballot paper.
However in addition to the eleven above, a further thirteen councillors elected in 1973 (usually under a 'loyalist' label) contested the 1977 local elections either for Vanguard or for their splinter party, the United Ulster Unionist Party
. This includes seven councillors elected as loyalists in 1973 who ran as VUPP candidates in 1977, namely Seymour, Armstrong, Semple and Stewart (Larne
), Green and Mary O'Fee (North Down
) and Glenn Barr
(Londonderry
.) A further four sitting councillors elected as Loyalists stood as UUUP candidates in 1977, namely McKeever (Larne), Ritchie (Carrickfergus
), Scott (Castlereagh) and Parke (Cookstown
). Ben Horan, elected as a 'Unionist' in Belfast
in 1973, announced two days after the election in the local press that he would sit as a VUPP councillor although he stood in 1977 as a UUUP candidate. Finally, Randall Crawford, elected in Coleraine
in 1973 and 1977 as a non-party candidate, stood for Londonderry
in the 1975 Constitutional convention election as a VUPP candidate.
A further councillor, Mrs M. Corrie, elected in Castlereagh as a United Loyalist, is described in contemporary press reports as a Vanguard councillor, but did not contest the 1977 local elections.
During the 1973-75 period VUPP was able to match or even beat the DUP in several elections. However their prospects of replacing the DUP as the second party of Unionism came to grief as a result of events during the Constitutional Convention.
in the event of there being a state of emergency. The move was a considerable surprise with a confidential government memo commenting: “Mr. Craig appears to some as a knight in shining armour. The fact is that his aims were – and still are – simple: to get a devolved government which would control security policy as quickly as possible, on the basis of a gentleman's agreement that the SDLP would participate in government for a year or two.” But any idea of power sharing was anathema to many Unionist in the post-Sunningdale climate of 1975. Indeed in January 1976, Deputy leader Ernest Baird warned that “If Westminster does not accept the Protestants' rejection of power-sharing, it must face the inevitable consequences of a final conflict."
As a result the party was bitterly split with only David Trimble
and Glenn Barr
backing Craig with the other eleven convention members challenging Craig's leadership. Craig however claimed that he had the backing of the party's rank and file and this was confirmed when sixty percent of party members and backed him at a specially convened meeting. The dissidents then broke away to form what would later become the United Ulster Unionist Party
.
On 8 September 1975, Craig’s proposals were decisively rejected at a meeting of the UUUC with 37 votes against and only Craig voting in favour. Consequently, Craig and the rump of VUPP were expelled from the UUUC.
The 1977 council elections were seen as a crucial test of Vanguard's ability to survive as a party and ultimately the party failed that test. Although thirteen councilors elected in 1973 stood as VUPP candidates, the party emerged from the election with only five councillors compared to twelve councilors elected in 1977 for their breakaway rival the UUUP.
Craig then applied to rejoin the UUP in February 1978 and subsequently merged the remainder of Vanguard back into the Ulster Unionist Party, where it returned to its origin as a pressure group within the UUP as the Vanguard movement, although this too seems to have quickly faded away. The Democratic Unionist Party
subsequently became the main Unionist party offering a more right wing alternative position to the Ulster Unionists.
In the 1982 elections for the new Northern Ireland Assembly, Craig, who had once more left the Ulster Unionists after losing his seat at Westminster, revived the name Vanguard for his candidacy in East Belfast
. However he failed to get elected.
(who was Vanguard's press officer from 1974 to 1977) while those elected for VUPP in 1975 included future UUP leaders David Trimble
(who briefly served as Vanguard Deputy Leader) and Reg Empey
who served as Vanguard chairman from 1974-75. Former deputy speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Jim Wilson
, served as a Vanguard councillor on Newtownabbey Borough Council
from 1975 to 1976 before joining the UUP Rev. Martin Smyth
later a UUP MP and Grand Master of the Orange Order
was deputy leader of the Vanguard movement but declined to join the party.
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
political party which existed in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
between 1973 and 1978. It was closely affiliated with several loyalist
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
groups.
Origins
It had its roots in the Vanguard or Ulster Vanguard wing of the Ulster Unionist PartyUlster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
(UUP) who were opposed to the policies of the party's leader and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the de facto head of the Government of Northern Ireland. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. However the Lord Lieutenant, as with Governors-General in other Westminster Systems such as in Canada, chose to appoint someone...
, Brian Faulkner
Brian Faulkner
Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick, PC was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from March 1971 until his resignation in March 1972...
. The Ulster Vanguard movement was originally a political pressure group within the UUP. It was formed on 9 February 1972 and was led by William Craig (former Minister of Home Affairs at Stormont
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
) with its deputy leaders Rev Martin Smyth
Martin Smyth
Reverend William Martin Smyth is a Northern Irish unionist politician, and was Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament for Belfast South from 1982-2005...
and the former Stormont MP for Carrick, Captain Austin Ardill
Austin Ardill
Captain Robert Austin Ardill MC was a former Northern Irish unionist politician.Ardill was born in Belfast and educated at Coleraine Academical Institution. He later worked as the managing director of a feedstuffs company...
. At its first meeting in Lisburn
Lisburn
DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...
, on 13 February 1972, Craig made the first of a number of bellicose pronouncements, declaring "God help those who get in our way for we mean business."
After the suspension of the Stormont Parliament
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
, Faulkner moved towards a policy of power-sharing with nationalist and non-sectarian politicians under the Sunningdale Agreement
Sunningdale Agreement
The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The Agreement was signed at the Civil Service College in Sunningdale Park located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973.Unionist opposition, violence and...
. In opposition to this many in the Ulster Unionists broke away and founded a separate Vanguard Party, with William Craig as the leader.
Ideology
Vanguard is usually considered to have been a right-wing party. In its earliest days it adopted the style associated with falangist parties with an honour guard, a common salute and a habit of wearing sashes. This led to it being characterised as MosleyiteOswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
or even neo-Nazi with the Stormont unionist MP William McConnell claiming that Vanguard rallies involved "a certain Hitlerian-type figure ... walking up and down the lines, inspecting his so-called storm-troopers."
Ulster Vanguard was intended to provide an umbrella organisation for various loyalist groups.
It had close links with, and strong support from loyalist paramilitary groups. Vanguard had its own paramilitary grouping called the Vanguard Service Corps (USC) whose main function seemed to be to provide escorts for Vanguard speakers attending rallies.
Policies
Vanguard strongly criticised the imposition of direct rule and in its booklet 'Ulster – A Nation' published in April 1972, it pledged "resistance to an undemocratic and un-British regime" and suggested the possibility of a Federal British Isles.At the Darlington Conference in September 1972, held to discuss various constitutional options for Northern Ireland, they proposed the restoration of the Northern Ireland Parliament as a single chamber assembly with a committee system to ensure greater participation by all parties. Internal security responsibilities would be restored however there would be a Bill of Rights
Bill of rights
A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or...
to safeguard the rights of minorities.
It demanded the "extermination" of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
and a reversal of the reforms introduced by Brian Faulkner and his predecessor, and in a booklet published in late 1972 entitled 'Community of the British Isles' it even flirted with the idea of full independence for Northern Ireland albeit within a structure which would also include Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
In late 1973 it rejected the idea of compulsory power sharing with Irish Nationalists and consequently refused invitations to take part in the conferences which led to the Sunningdale Agreement
Sunningdale Agreement
The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The Agreement was signed at the Civil Service College in Sunningdale Park located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973.Unionist opposition, violence and...
.
In their 1974 Westminster manifesto, they called for the more mainstream Unionist option of either devolved government with full security responsibilities or full integration into the UK.
However there were occasions when it did not follow the same course as other right-wing or unionist parties. For example in the 1975 referendum
United Kingdom referendum, 1975
The United Kingdom referendum of 1975 was a post-legislative referendum held on 5 June 1975 in the United Kingdom to gauge support for the country's continued membership of the European Economic Community , often known as the Common Market at the time, which it had entered in 1973 under the...
on the United Kingdom's membership of the-then European Economic Community
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
, it campaigned for the United Kingdom to remain a member whilst the other Unionist parties campaigned for withdrawal.
Extra-Parliamentary activity
Vanguard was firmly supportive of extra-parliamentary activity in the form of direct action in order to achieve its goals. On 26 January 1972, Craig announced plans to hold large rallies in major centres in Northern Ireland The culmination was a large rally on 18 March 1972 in Belfast's Ormeau Park, attended by up to 60,000 people, at which Craig said that "We must build up the dossiers on the men and women who are a menace to this country, because one day, ladies and gentlemen, if the politicians fail, it will be our duty to liquidate the enemy".Following the suspension of Stormont and the imposition of direct rule in March 1972, Vanguard organised a general strike which affected power supplies, caused businesses to close and halted public transport. About 190,000 people participated and Vanguard members barricaded and took effective control of the town of Portadown
Portadown
Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...
. Later 100,000 unionists converged on the drive leading to Stormont, where Craig addressed the crowds, but deferred to the outgoing Prime Minister Brian Faulkner who managed to disperse the crowds.
On 3 June 1972, VUPP organised a march in Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
against the creation of no-go areas in Nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
districts which ended in violence on the city's Craigavon bridge. Despite the violence, Craig pledged to continue the marches stating: "We are no longer protesting - we are demanding action."
In February 1973 it was one of the only parties to support the two-day general strike organised by the Loyalist Association of Workers
Loyalist Association of Workers
The Loyalist Association of Workers was a militant unionist organisation in Northern Ireland that sought to mobilise trade union members in support of the loyalist cause...
in protest at the internment of Protestants. The strike had the further stated goal to "re-establish some kind of Protestant or loyalist control over the affairs in the province, especially over security policy" The strike resulted in high levels of violence with five people, including a fireman, being killed, seven people wounded, several explosions and numerous malicious fires.
The strike proved to be a forerunner of the Ulster Workers Council Strike the following year, in which VUPP again played a prominent role, making their headquarters in Hawthornden Road, Belfast, available to the strike leaders. with Craig a leading member of the UWC coordinating committee
In addition to large rallies, Vanguard used other tactics in order to try to put pressure on the British Government. In July 1972, they called for a rent and rate strike, a proposal which put them at odds with other unionist parties and which was criticized by the DUP
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
. Several months later, on 19 October 1972, Craig addressed a meeting of the right wing Conservative Monday Club
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
during which he claimed he could mobilise 80,000 men “who are prepared to come out and shoot and kill.”
Electoral performances
The party contested a succession of elections: to the brief Sunningdale Assembly, the February 1974 General ElectionUnited Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
, the October 1974 General Election
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...
and the 1975 elections to the Constitutional Convention. The 1973 Sunningdale and local council elections were fought in an informal alliance with the DUP
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
as "the loyalist coalition" while the latter three were fought as part of the United Ulster Unionist Council
United Ulster Unionist Council
The United Ulster Unionist Council was a body that sought to bring together the Unionists opposed to the Sunningdale Agreement in Northern Ireland.-Formation:The UUUC was established in January 1974...
, a more formal arrangement, with the Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
and the Ulster Unionists, where the anti-Sunningdale wing of the party was now in control.
| Vanguard election results 1973-1977 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Election | Number of votes | % of total votes | No. of members elected | Total no. of seats available | |||||||||||
| May 1973 | Local council elections Northern Ireland local elections, 1973 Local government in Northern Ireland was reorganised in 1973 by the Local Government Act 1971 and the Local Government Act 1972... |
13,305 | 1.6 | 8-10 | 524 | |||||||||||
| June 1973 | Northern Ireland Assembly Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973 -Seats summary:-Source:* http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fa73.htm... |
75,709 | 11.5 | 7 | 78 | |||||||||||
| February 1974 | Westminster election United Kingdom general election, February 1974 The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,... |
75,944 | 10.6 | 3 | 12 | |||||||||||
| October 1974 | Westminster election United Kingdom general election, October 1974 The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of... |
92,622 | 13.1 | 3 | 12 | |||||||||||
| June 1975 | Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was an elected body set up in 1975 by the UK Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland.... |
83,507 | 12.7 | 14 | 78 | |||||||||||
| May 1977 | Local council elections Northern Ireland local elections, 1977 Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland in May 1977.The elections saw good performances by the four largest parties: the Ulster Unionist Party , Social Democratic and Labour Party , Alliance Party of Northern Ireland and Democratic Unionist Party , while smaller parties failed... |
8,135 | 1.5 | 5 | 524 | |||||||||||
- Note: VUPP percentage figures in the Westminster elections are for Northern Ireland only
Source:
The number of Vanguard councillors elected in 1973 is a matter of some dispute among the various sources, as Whyte notes: "there is huge potential for confusion among the various candidate designations." As a minimum, James Knight, writing closest to the time, counted eight councillors CAIN counts nine Vanguard councillors - counting an additional councillor in Ards. Whyte counts ten, ignoring the councillor in Ards but counting two additional councillors in Craigavon
Craigavon Borough Council
Craigavon Borough Council is a local council in counties Armagh, Down and Antrim, in Northern Ireland. The headquarters of the council is in Craigavon, on the shores of Lough Neagh, a new town built between Lurgan and Portadown. The council area includes the large towns of Lurgan and Portadown, as...
who he says were described as Vanguard councillors on the ballot paper.
However in addition to the eleven above, a further thirteen councillors elected in 1973 (usually under a 'loyalist' label) contested the 1977 local elections either for Vanguard or for their splinter party, the United Ulster Unionist Party
United Ulster Unionist Party
The United Ulster Unionist Party was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1975 and 1984.It emerged from a division in the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party in the late 1970s...
. This includes seven councillors elected as loyalists in 1973 who ran as VUPP candidates in 1977, namely Seymour, Armstrong, Semple and Stewart (Larne
Larne Borough Council
Larne Borough Council is a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Its headquarters is in the town of Larne and the population of the area is nearly 31,000...
), Green and Mary O'Fee (North Down
North Down Borough Council
North Down Borough Council is a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland with an overall population of around 80,000. Its main town is Bangor, 20 km east of Belfast with a population of approximately 55,000. The Council is headquartered in Bangor. Its secondary centre is the former Urban...
) and Glenn Barr
Glenn Barr
Glenn Barr, OBE , is a former politician from Derry, Northern Ireland who was an advocate of Ulster nationalism. For a time during the 1970s he straddled both Unionism and Loyalism due to simultaneously holding important positions in the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party and the Ulster Defence...
(Londonderry
Derry City Council
Derry City Council is a district council in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. The Council is is responsible for the city of Derry and the immediate environ, providing services to an estimated population of , making it the third largest district council in Northern Ireland by population.The...
.) A further four sitting councillors elected as Loyalists stood as UUUP candidates in 1977, namely McKeever (Larne), Ritchie (Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus Borough Council
Carrickfergus Borough Council is a district council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. The council headquarters are in Carrickfergus and the council administers the town, on the north shore of Belfast Lough, and surrounding area, which extends from Greenisland in the south-west to Whitehead in...
), Scott (Castlereagh) and Parke (Cookstown
Cookstown District Council
Cookstown District Council is a district council covering an area largely in County Tyrone and partly in County Londonderry. Council headquarters are in Cookstown. Small towns in the council area include Pomeroy, Moneymore, Coagh and Stewartstown and in the east the area is bounded by Lough Neagh...
). Ben Horan, elected as a 'Unionist' in Belfast
Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...
in 1973, announced two days after the election in the local press that he would sit as a VUPP councillor although he stood in 1977 as a UUUP candidate. Finally, Randall Crawford, elected in Coleraine
Coleraine Borough Council
Coleraine Borough Council is a local council mainly in County Londonderry and partly in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Its headquarters are in the town of Coleraine. Small towns in the area include Garvagh, Portrush, Portstewart and Kilrea...
in 1973 and 1977 as a non-party candidate, stood for Londonderry
Londonderry (Assembly constituency)
Londonderry was a constituency used for the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973. Members were then elected from the constituency to the 1975 Constitutional Convention and the 1982 Assembly...
in the 1975 Constitutional convention election as a VUPP candidate.
A further councillor, Mrs M. Corrie, elected in Castlereagh as a United Loyalist, is described in contemporary press reports as a Vanguard councillor, but did not contest the 1977 local elections.
During the 1973-75 period VUPP was able to match or even beat the DUP in several elections. However their prospects of replacing the DUP as the second party of Unionism came to grief as a result of events during the Constitutional Convention.
1975/76 Split
The Constitutional Convention was intended to serve as a forum to allow the politicians of Northern Ireland to draw up their own proposals for the political future of the province, though this proved unsuccessful. However it led to William Craig proposing a voluntary coalition with the Nationalist SDLPSocial Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
in the event of there being a state of emergency. The move was a considerable surprise with a confidential government memo commenting: “Mr. Craig appears to some as a knight in shining armour. The fact is that his aims were – and still are – simple: to get a devolved government which would control security policy as quickly as possible, on the basis of a gentleman's agreement that the SDLP would participate in government for a year or two.” But any idea of power sharing was anathema to many Unionist in the post-Sunningdale climate of 1975. Indeed in January 1976, Deputy leader Ernest Baird warned that “If Westminster does not accept the Protestants' rejection of power-sharing, it must face the inevitable consequences of a final conflict."
As a result the party was bitterly split with only David Trimble
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party...
and Glenn Barr
Glenn Barr
Glenn Barr, OBE , is a former politician from Derry, Northern Ireland who was an advocate of Ulster nationalism. For a time during the 1970s he straddled both Unionism and Loyalism due to simultaneously holding important positions in the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party and the Ulster Defence...
backing Craig with the other eleven convention members challenging Craig's leadership. Craig however claimed that he had the backing of the party's rank and file and this was confirmed when sixty percent of party members and backed him at a specially convened meeting. The dissidents then broke away to form what would later become the United Ulster Unionist Party
United Ulster Unionist Party
The United Ulster Unionist Party was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1975 and 1984.It emerged from a division in the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party in the late 1970s...
.
On 8 September 1975, Craig’s proposals were decisively rejected at a meeting of the UUUC with 37 votes against and only Craig voting in favour. Consequently, Craig and the rump of VUPP were expelled from the UUUC.
Decline and disbandment
The 1977 local elections were overshadowed by the abortive United Unionist Action Council (UUAC) Strike which was mainly supported by the DUP and the UUUM. In contrast to 1974, when they had played a prominent role in the previous strike Vanguard criticized the strike and together with the UUP and Orange Order, called for it to be abandoned.The 1977 council elections were seen as a crucial test of Vanguard's ability to survive as a party and ultimately the party failed that test. Although thirteen councilors elected in 1973 stood as VUPP candidates, the party emerged from the election with only five councillors compared to twelve councilors elected in 1977 for their breakaway rival the UUUP.
Craig then applied to rejoin the UUP in February 1978 and subsequently merged the remainder of Vanguard back into the Ulster Unionist Party, where it returned to its origin as a pressure group within the UUP as the Vanguard movement, although this too seems to have quickly faded away. The Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
subsequently became the main Unionist party offering a more right wing alternative position to the Ulster Unionists.
In the 1982 elections for the new Northern Ireland Assembly, Craig, who had once more left the Ulster Unionists after losing his seat at Westminster, revived the name Vanguard for his candidacy in East Belfast
Belfast East (Assembly constituency)
Belfast East is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
. However he failed to get elected.
Prominent UUP members in Vanguard
Several prominent current Ulster Unionist politicians were members of Vanguard, including future UUP MP David BurnsideDavid Burnside
David Wilson Boyd Burnside is a Northern Ireland politician, and was Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament for South Antrim....
(who was Vanguard's press officer from 1974 to 1977) while those elected for VUPP in 1975 included future UUP leaders David Trimble
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party...
(who briefly served as Vanguard Deputy Leader) and Reg Empey
Reg Empey
Reginald Norman Morgan Empey, Baron Empey of Shandon, OBE, – known as Sir Reg Empey prior to 2011 – is a former Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for East Belfast...
who served as Vanguard chairman from 1974-75. Former deputy speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Jim Wilson
Jim Wilson (UK politician)
Jim Wilson is a Northern Irish politician.Born in County Antrim, Wilson attended Belfast College of Technology before becoming a marine engineer. He was elected to Newtownabbey Borough Council in 1975 for the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party, and joined the Ulster Unionist Party the following...
, served as a Vanguard councillor on Newtownabbey Borough Council
Newtownabbey Borough Council
Newtownabbey Borough Council is a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Newtownabbey has a population of over 80,000 and is on the north shore of Belfast Lough just immediately north of Belfast. The Borough was founded in 1958 as a result of an Act of Parliament passed in 1957 and...
from 1975 to 1976 before joining the UUP Rev. Martin Smyth
Martin Smyth
Reverend William Martin Smyth is a Northern Irish unionist politician, and was Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament for Belfast South from 1982-2005...
later a UUP MP and Grand Master of the Orange Order
Orange Institution
The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...
was deputy leader of the Vanguard movement but declined to join the party.