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What a disastrous general election it has been for the Ulster
Unionist Party, made worse by the fact that this is the centenary
year of the founding party of Unionism.
The party of Saunderson, Carson, Craig, and Brookeborough
reduced to one Member of Parliament, and humiliated in many
of its traditional strongholds.
Truly, this was a colossal rejection of Ulster Unionism -
a truly historic defeat of massive proportions. One has to
go back to the collapse of the Liberal Party in Britain, in
the early 1920s, the eclipse of the old Irish Nationalist
Party in Ireland in 1918, or more recently, the annihilation
of the Conservatives in Canada to find similar collapse of
power.
If Ulster Unionists were in the depths of despair, then the
DUP was jubilant and triumphant. This was the moment their
supporters had dreamed of, with Ian Paisley sinking his Ulster
Unionist opponents.
For Ulster Unionists, the ultimate humiliation was the sensational
defeat of their leader David Trimble in Upper Bann, a seat
synonymous with Unionism.
For David Simpson, the DUP victor, it was a victory cavalcade
through the streets of loyal Portadown, and the capture of
a seat held with consummate ease by the late Harold McCusker.
It is for Ulster Unionism to decide which path it follows
as it seeks to prevent the once mighty party which ruled Northern
Ireland for half-a-century becoming an irrelevant rump.
That will be for Ulster Unionist leaders and members to decide,
and those who wish the party well, must hope that the decisions
are taken early, and followed in decisive manner.
It is not a time for drift or lengthy delay. The party must
re-group and must galvanise its demoralised membership. It
must bring in new blood in the form of many young members,
and it must examine every aspect of its election disaster
as it seeks to revive its fortunes.
There is consolation for the Ulster Unionist Party in the
many victories it achieved in the local government elections
held on the same day as the Westminster election. It is true
the DUP won more seats, but Ulster Unionism did not experience
the almost total collapse of the Westminster debacle.
The Ulster electorate gave a vote of confidence to tried
and trusted councillors, who had served them faithfully and
well at council level, and that is of some consolation.
For the DUP, things can hardly get better. But having almost
wiped out its main rival in the Unionist family, it now faces
the awesome responsibility of negotiating on behalf of the
Protestant majority community in vital matters affecting the
future of Northern Ireland and its place within the United
Kingdom.
The DUP will find that the weight of power on its shoulders
is a daunting one, but one that it can face with confidence
boosted by its tremendous vote.
For Orangemen, this was an election of mixed emotions. It
was the first time the Orange Order had not been officially
linked to the Ulster Unionist Party - something brought about
by the party over a period of years.
That, of course, did not prevent Orangemen from voting in
huge numbers for the Ulster Unionist representatives, as they
did in substantial numbers for the DUP.
For Orangemen, and indeed for the majority of ordinary rank-and-file
Unionists, the great desire is still for a single Unionist
party. Ironically, that may have been brought closer to realisation
due to the extent of the DUP victory over its shattered Unionist
opponent.
But there is no feeling of satisfaction on the part of most
Orangemen over the demise of the Ulster Unionist Party and
the way this has been brought about. They want to see Unionism
strong, and that relates to both strands of the Unionist family.
And Orangemen want to see the pro-Union representation at
Westminster maximised. One of the most disappointing aspects
of the Westminster election was the loss of South Belfast
and Fermanagh-South Tyrone constituencies.
A single unionist candidate in either constituency would
have emerged triumphant, yet both seats were handed to nationalists
because of the failure to reach agreement on this key issue.
The defeat in South Belfast where the SDLP were handed the
seat was particularly hard to take. This was the seat which
had been represented so ably by former Grand Master of the
Orange Order, the Rev. Martin Smyth, and his predecessor,
the late Rev. Robert Bradford, murdered so cruelly by the
IRA.
It was dreadful to allow such a seat to fall into the hands
of a nationalist, and as far as Orangemen are concerned, this
must not happen again.
Clearly the Ulster Unionist Party stands at a crossroads
in its proud history, and decisions taken will affect its
very future as a political party of any relevance. It cannot
afford to get it wrong and for the sake of Ulster and its
British people, it must get it right.
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