Traditional Unionist Voice

Short description: Political party in Northern Ireland

Traditional Unionist Voice

Abbreviation| TUV
Leader| Jim Allister
Chairman| Jordan Armstrong
President| William Ross
Founded| 7 December 2007
Split from| Democratic Unionist Party
Headquarters| 139 Holywood Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Ideology|

* British unionism[1]
* Ulster loyalism
* National conservatism[1]
* Social conservatism[1]
* Anti-Good Friday Agreement[2]
* Hard Euroscepticism[3]

Political position| Right-wing[4]
Colours|  Blue (primarily), red and white
House of Commons
(NI Seats)|

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NI Assembly|

1 / 90

Local government in Northern Ireland[5]|

7 / 462

Website
{{{1}}}

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland,[6] founded in 2007 after splitting from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) because of its acceptance of power-sharing with Sinn Féin.[7] Its founder and leader is Jim Allister, who until 2009 sat as an independent Member of the European Parliament, having been elected for the DUP in 2004.[8][9] Its president is William Ross.[10] TUV is right-wing and socially conservative and opposes the Good Friday Agreement, particularly mandatory power-sharing with Irish nationalists, and political co-operation with the Republic of Ireland.

## Contents

* 1 Ideology
* 2 Election history
* 2.1 Local by-elections
* 2.2 2009 European Parliament election
* 2.3 2010 Westminster general election
* 2.4 2011 council elections
* 2.5 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election
* 2.6 2014 European Parliament election
* 2.7 2014 council elections
* 2.8 2015 United Kingdom general election
* 2.9 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election
* 2.10 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election
* 2.11 2017 United Kingdom general election
* 2.12 2019 United Kingdom general election
* 2.13 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election
* 3 Controversies
* 4 Leader
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Ideology

Traditional Unionist Voice is more hardline than the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),[11] which it split from, criticising it for compromising too much with Irish republicans. TUV is a right-wing[4] unionist[1] and loyalist party.[12] It opposes the Good Friday Agreement,[2] particularly unionists (traditionally the largest bloc) having to share power with Irish nationalists, arguing that coalition governments should be voluntary.[13] It opposes the participation of former IRA members in Northern Ireland politics and Sinn Féin members in government,[13] and sees the majority of their leadership as terrorists. The Good Friday Agreement offered amnesties to both sides, but TUV opposes amnesties for Irish republicans.[14] It also wants to reduce political co-operation with the Republic of Ireland through North-South bodies.[13]

TUV espouses national conservatism[1] and social conservatism.[1] Jim Allister opposed a motion pardoning gay men convicted for formerly illegal homosexual acts.[15]

It also took a hard Eurosceptic stance in the Brexit debate.[3]

## Election history

### Local by-elections

The party's first electoral contest was the Dromore local government by-election for Banbridge District Council[16] which took place on 13 February 2008[17] with its candidate being Dromore solicitor, Keith Harbinson. He took 19.5% of the first preference votes cast.

TUV was the last party to be eliminated, and more of its votes transferred to the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) than to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), enabling the former to retain its seat.[18]

At a Craigavon Borough Council local by-election in Lurgan on 14 January 2010, the TUV candidate won 19.3% of first preference votes. The UUP candidate, Jo-Anne Dobson, won with 63.9%. The DUP did not contest the seat.

### 2009 European Parliament election

Jim Allister, leader of TUV, contested the European Parliament election on 4 June 2009. He stood on a ticket of opposition to the DUP/Sinn Féin-led Northern Ireland Executive.[19] The election turned out to be hotly contested, with the unionist vote split three ways. Sinn Féin's sitting MEP Bairbre de Brún topped the poll (a first for any Irish nationalist candidate). The Ulster Conservative and Unionist candidate Jim Nicholson took the second seat, with Diane Dodds of the DUP coming in third place, defeating Allister. TUV polled 66,000 votes. Allister called the results a victory for unionism and indicated his intention to stand TUV candidates in future Northern Ireland Assembly and parliamentary elections. He additionally argued that the election represented 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."

Party  | Candidate  | Seats  | Loss/Gain| First Preference Votes  | Seat

|
|
|
|
|

Number  | % of vote
Bairbre de Brún | 1 | 0 | 126,184 | 25.8 | 1st
Diane Dodds | 1 | 0 | 88,346 | 18.1 | 3rd
Jim Nicholson | 1 | 0 | 82,892 | 17.0 | 2nd
Alban Maginness | 0 | 0 | 78,489 | 16.1 |
Jim Allister | 0 | 0 | 66,197 | 13.5
Ian Parsley | 0 | 0 | 26,699 | 5.5
Steven Agnew | 0 | 0 | 15,764 | 3.2
Turnout[20] | 488,891 | 42.8

Source: RTÉ News

### 2010 Westminster general election

On 6 May at the 2010 general election for the Westminster parliament, TUV received 26,300 votes across Northern Ireland, a large drop on what it had received in the previous year's European elections. In the same election, the DUP received 168,216 votes and the UCUNF received 102,361 votes. The TUV failed to win any of the 10 seats it contested. A week after the election, TUV acknowledged on their website that the results had been "disappointing".[21]

Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % | Position

|
|
|
|

Belfast East | David Vance | 1,856 | 5.4 | 4
East Antrim | Sammy Morrison | 1,826 | 6.0 | 6
East Londonderry | William Ross | 2,572 | 7.4 | 5
Lagan Valley | Keith Harbinson | 3,154 | 8.6 | 4
Mid Ulster | Walter Millar | 2,995 | 7.3 | 5
North Antrim | Jim Allister | 7,114 | 16.8 | 2
North Down | Kaye Kilpatrick | 1,634 | 4.9 | 4
South Antrim | Mel Lucas | 1,829 | 5.4 | 6
South Down | Ivor McConnell | 1,506 | 3.5 | 5
Strangford | Terry Williams | 1,814 | 5.6 | 5

### 2011 council elections

Traditional Unionist Voice fielded 41 candidates in the 2011 Northern Ireland local elections. It received 2% of the overall vote. Two TUV candidates were elected in Ballymena, and one each in Moyle, Ballymoney, Larne and Limavady.[22]

### 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election

The party fielded 12 candidates for the 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election. TUV received 16,480 votes or 2.5% of the poll, which was a drop in the number of votes received in the 2010 election. Eleven candidates were unsuccessful but in the North Antrim constituency Jim Allister received 4,061 first preference votes (10.1%), and on the ninth and last count was deemed to be elected without reaching the quota of 5,760 votes.[23]

### 2014 European Parliament election

In the 2014 European Parliament election, Allister once again contested the Northern Ireland constituency. On this occasion he polled 75,806 first preference votes, 12.1% of the total.[24] This represented an increase in the number of votes, but a decrease of just over one percentage point in terms of vote share. Allister again failed to be elected, with Sinn Féin, the DUP and UUP all retaining their seats. Allister was eliminated in the sixth of eight counts.[25]

### 2014 council elections

In the 2014 Northern Ireland local elections (held on the same day as the European election) for the eleven new local councils in Northern Ireland, TUV candidates polled a total of 28,310 first preference votes, or 4.5%, an increase on the previous council elections. The party had 13 successful candidates.[26] They achieved their largest number of councillors in Mid and East Antrim, where they became the third-largest party with five seats. They won three seats in Causeway Coast and Glens, two in Antrim and Newtownabbey and one each in Belfast, North Down and Ards and Lisburn and Castlereagh.

### 2015 United Kingdom general election

The party stood in seven constituencies in the 2015 general election, taking second in North Antrim but failing to place in the top four elsewhere.

Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % | Position

|
|
|
|

East Antrim | Ruth Wilson | 1,903 | 5.7 | 6
Lagan Valley | Samuel Morrison | 1,887 | 4.7 | 6
Mid Ulster | Gareth Ferguson | 1,892 | 4.6 | 5
North Antrim | Timothy Gaston | 6,561 | 15.7 | 2
North Down | William Cudworth | 686 | 1.9 | 7
South Antrim | Rick Cairns | 1,908 | 5.2 | 6
Strangford | Stephen Cooper | 1,701 | 5.1 | 7

### 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election

The party stood 15 candidates in 14 constituencies in the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election, winning 23,776 first-preference votes (3.4% of the overall vote share). Jim Allister retained his seat in North Antrim, but the party was unable to gain any additional MLAs.

Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % | Position
(after transfers)

|
|
|
|

Belfast East | Andrew Girvin | 887 | 3.7 | 12
Belfast North | John Miller | 644 | 1.8 | 13
Belfast South | John Andrew Hiddleston | 495 | 1.3 | 12
East Antrim | Ruth Wilson | 1,643 | 5.1 | 10
East Londonderry | Jordon Armstrong | 1,191 | 3.5 | 11
Fermanagh and South Tyrone | Donald Crawford | 1,164 | 2.5 | 10
Lagan Valley | Lyle Rea | 1,291 | 3.3 | 10
Mid Ulster | Hanna Loughrin | 1,877 | 4.6 | 8
North Antrim | Jim Allister | 5,399 | 13.2 | 2
North Antrim | Timothy Gaston | 1,955 | 4.8 | 9
North Down | John Brennan | 610 | 1.9 | 12
South Antrim | Rick Cairns | 1,318 | 3.8 | 10
South Down | Henry Reilly | 2,718 | 6.6 | 10
Strangford | Stephen Cooper | 1,407 | 4.3 | 10
Upper Bann | Roy Ferguson | 1,177 | 2.6 | 10

### 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election

Jim Allister retained his seat in North Antrim in the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election. [27]

### 2017 United Kingdom general election

In 2017, the party stood a single candidate in the 2017 general election.

Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % | Position

|
|
|
|

North Antrim | Timothy Gaston | 3,282 | 6.8 | 4

### 2019 United Kingdom general election

TUV chose not to stand any candidates in the 2019 general election.[28]

### 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election

In the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, the party stood 19 candidates in 18 constituencies, up from 14 candidates in 2017. TUV won 65,788 first preference votes, more than three times its score in the 2017 election.[29]

## Controversies

In November 2009, the party caused controversy when it referred to the Irish language as a "leprechaun language" on its website.[30] The statement was issued under the name of TUV vice-chairman Keith Harbinson and condemned the Department of Education for "wasting" money on Irish.[30] The party later removed the phrase, but the original page had already been spread on numerous other websites.[30]

In December 2009, TUV member Trevor Collins promoted a petition to release Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) member Torrens Knight from prison. Knight had already been imprisoned for taking part in the Greysteel massacre and Castlerock killings in 1993. He was released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement (1998), but earlier in 2009 had been sent back to prison for beating two women in a bar. Party leader Jim Allister refused to take action against Collins.[31]

In November 2012, Ballymena TUV councillor David Tweed was convicted on 13 counts of sexual offences against two young girls. Pending sentencing he remained a member of Ballymena Borough Council and of TUV,[32] although the party announced on 15 November that it had 'suspended' his membership "not because we doubt his innocence, but because this is what the party rules require".[33] TUV also stated the sex offences related "to a period long before he was a member of this party".[34] In January 2013, Tweed was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. TUV chose one of its unsuccessful 2011 candidates, Timothy Gaston, to replace Tweed as councillor.[35] Tweed's conviction was later quashed in October 2016.[36]

In August 2021, TUV defended comments by its East Belfast candidate John Ross, a former paratrooper, who was criticized for calling the Bloody Sunday massacre "a very successful operation". Fourteen unarmed Catholic civilians were shot dead by paratroopers. A representative of the victims said "Bloody Sunday has been the subject of a meticulous public inquiry which found that all those killed and wounded were innocent". TUV replied that there had been "various conflicting judicial findings".[37]

## Leader

Leader  | Born  | Term start  | Term end

|
|
|

1  | Jim Allister |  | 1953 | 7 December 2007 | Incumbent

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "Northern Ireland/UK". http://www.parties-and-elections.eu/nireland.html.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "About TUV". https://tuv.org.uk/about-tuv/.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Three Compelling Reasons to Vote Leave . Traditional Unionist Voice (official website). Published 20 June 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Walsh, John (30 April 2021). "Don't envy the next DUP leader. They face an almost impossible job". https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dont-envy-the-next-dup-leader-they-face-an-almost-impossible-job-hhx8qqttr.
5. ↑ "Local Council Political Compositions". Open Council Date UK. 7 January 2018. http://www.opencouncildata.co.uk/index.php.
6. ↑ TUV. Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
7. ↑ Election profile: Traditional Unionist Voice . BBC NEWS. Published 27 March 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
8. ↑ "New unionist group to be launched". BBC News. 7 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7131912.stm.
9. ↑ "Northern Ireland News - Allister Announces 'Alternative Ulster' Voice". 4ni.co.uk. 7 December 2007. http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=69467.
10. ↑ We'll bring the DUP to account[no|permanent dead link|dead link}}], The News Letter, 4 June 2008
11. ↑ "Why does the small TUV party frighten the DUP so much?". The Irish Times. 19 June 2021. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/why-does-the-small-tuv-party-frighten-the-dup-so-much-1.4597431.
12. ↑ "Survey of loyalists shows that half would vote for TUV". The News Letter. 31 August 2021. https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/survey-of-loyalists-shows-that-half-would-vote-for-tuv-and-only-127-for-dup-3364860.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Jim Allister says TUV 'can be catalyst for change'". BBC News. 11 April 2011. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-13037023.
14. ↑ "Traditional Unionist Voice Leaflet". http://www.jimallister.org/uploads/_249.pdf.
15. ↑ "Northern Assembly passes motion to pardon gay men for homosexual acts". The Irish Times. 29 November 2016. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/northern-assembly-passes-motion-to-pardon-gay-men-for-homosexual-acts-1.2886537.
16. ↑ "TUV to contest Dromore by-election". Jimallister.org. 12 January 2008. http://www.jimallister.org/default.asp?blogID=864.
17. ↑ "by-election date". Banbridge.com. http://www.banbridge.com/home.asp.
18. ↑ "Archived copy". http://www.eoni.org.uk/dromore_result.pdf.
19. ↑ "Who is Jim Allister?". News.bbc.co.uk. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8044057.stm.
20. ↑ "Electoral Office for Northern Ireland - Turnout". http://www.eoni.org.uk/turnout_-_website-4.pdf.
21. ↑ "Thank you to TUV voters and workers | Traditional Unionist Voice". Tuv.org.uk. http://www.tuv.org.uk/press-releases/view/671/thank-you-to-tuv-voters-and-workers.
22. ↑ "Northern Ireland Council Elections". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/council/html/northern_ireland.stm.
23. ↑ "UTV - Northern Ireland Assembly election 2011: North Antrim constituency profile & candidates". u.tv. http://www.u.tv/election2011/Constituency.aspx?id=2.
24. ↑ "BBC News - Vote 2014: Northern Ireland European election result". BBC News. 27 May 2014. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-27019605.
25. ↑ "BBC Northern Ireland Locals Result". BBC News. 2014. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/26_05_14_ni_euro.pdf.
26. ↑ "Vote 2014 Election Results for Councils in Northern Ireland - BBC News". bbc.co.uk. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/vote2014/ni-council-election-results.
27. ↑ http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/documents/raise/publications/2017-2022/2017/general/2217.pdf|title=Election Report: Northern Ireland Assembly Election, 2 March 2017|author=Dr. Raymond Russell|publisher=niassembly.gov.uk|date=8 March 2017|accessdate=6 May 2022}}
28. ↑ McCormack, Jayne (14 November 2019). "General Election 2019: NI candidates confirmed". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50390811. "Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) has decided not to run any candidates in this election, having only fielded one candidate in 2017."
29. ↑ "Northern Ireland Assembly Election Results 2022" (in en-GB). https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2022/northern-ireland/results.
30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 "TUV sorry for 'leprechaun' slur". BBC News. 6 November 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8346243.stm.
31. ↑ "TUV won't take action over Knight petition". BBC News. 4 December 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/foyle_and_west/8393317.stm.
32. ↑ "Former Irish rugby international David Tweed guilty of child sex abuse". Belfast Telegraph. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/former-irish-rugby-international-david-tweed-guilty-of-child-sex-abuse-16243768.html.
33. ↑ News Letter, Belfast News Letter, 15 November 2012
34. ↑ "Tweed remarks hurt family, says mum of murder victim", The Irish News, 30 November 2012
35. ↑ Maeve Connolly, "TUV replaces sex abuser ex-councillor", The Irish News, 16 February 2013
36. ↑ "David Tweed may not face retrial on child sex abuse allegations". News Letter. 14 December 2016. https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/david-tweed-may-not-face-retrial-child-sex-abuse-allegations-1173459.
37. ↑ "TUV defend east Belfast candidate John Ross over criticism of 2019 Bloody Sunday comments". Belfast Telegraph. 5 August 2021. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tuv-defend-east-belfast-candidate-john-ross-over-criticism-of-2019-bloody-sunday-comments-40723123.html.

## External links

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