A brief history of political Loyalism…

TE Lawrence is a Slugger regular from  Belfast

It was a post from Maise from this parish who declared that she remembered being at The Kings Hall for the GFA Referendum Vote Count which I responded to by saying I was also there and Remember the Hall singing to Ian Paisley (Sen) ‘I’m your yesterdays man’ I wouldn’t sing it as I knew while the Shinners flew over Stockmans Lane Cock-A-Hoop to party in their West Belfast Homelands, I was walking back down that Lisburn Road and home to Sandy Row to take the Paisleyites on again in the back streets of Loyalist Belfast. I have therefore decided to put pen to paper and jot down a brief essay of political loyalism.

By joining the Loyalist Paramilitaries you cannot escape the fact that you are involving yourself into the political arena of life in Northern Ireland. The Oaths that you swear are probably the biggest political declarations that you shall make in your life.

One of the things about Loyalism is it never trusted so called Unionist Politicians to correctly represent it and its views. To this date you still can see this uneasy relationship between it and politicians.

There was guys at the start of the Troubles within the Loyalist Paramilitaries always thinking about political solutions back then.

The first thrust to dip its head into elections would have been during the Vanguard Period and the formation of The Volunteer Political Party (VPP) in 1974 to contest the October 1974 General Election for West Belfast. Ken Gibson leader of the VPP took on the agreed official UUUC candidate Johnny McQuade (DUP). Gerry Fitt won the seat easily for the SDLP with 21,821 votes, The DUP got 16,265 votes and the VPP a mere 2690 votes. Within a month the VPP was wrapped up by the UVF. It’s an interesting point that at the time the VPP asked to join the UUUC but was rejected by Main Stream Unionism. I always felt at the time that the VPP should have taken time to build up a political structure first without racing into a UK General Election and starting with smaller steps and possible success and break through at local council elections, but that would have taken a longer wait until 1977 local council elections.

The UDA had also been dabbling in politics since the success of the Ulster Workers Strike back in 1974, this lead to the New Ulster Political Research Group being formed in 1978 which advocated for Independence for Northern Ireland, however once the UDP was formed in 1981 it had rowed back to a position of a Devolved Parliament for the Province within the United Kingdom.

John McMichael stood in the South Belfast Westminster By-Election in 1982 following the murder of its MP Rev Robert Bradford by the PIRA but only received 576 votes against Martin Smuth (UUP) 17,123 votes. As with the VPP in 1974 it may have been wiser to start off with smaller local council elections.

The UDP went onto produce the Common Sense Document in 1987 which proposed an Independent Power Sharing Northern Ireland Government. Maybe the Anglo Irish Agreement had reignited such political thinking again amongst loyalists. By the end of 1987 John McMichael would be murdered by the PIRA.

Loyalism did have success in elections with Hugh Smyth who represented the Shankill at Belfast City Council from 1972 to 2014. He was also elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1973 and would represent the Ulster Loyalist Front set up by the UVF at that time. He was also elected to the NI Constitutional Convention in 1975 and was involved with the failed VPP at the time. However this group of independent unionists would coalesce themselves into forming the Progressive Unionist Party in 1979.

Both the PUP and UDP would pull in a total vote of 42,797 (11% of the Unionist Vote) at the Northern Ireland Forum Elections in 1996 to get them two top up seats each at this Forum. What is interesting about this Forum is that Sinn Fein refused to take its seats at it. This vote would be the basis of getting David Ervine and Billy Hutchinson (2 PUP Representatives for East & North Belfast) elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly after the GFA in 1998. A big disappointment for the other political shade of Loyalism was Gary McMichael (son of John McMichael) not getting elected to The Assembly. This would pave the way for disagreement within the UDP about its support for the GFA and by the end of 2001 this political voice of loyalism would be dissolved.

Some would say that the Loyalist Paramilitary Feuds killed political loyalism off. We had the fracture of the UVF with Billy Wright which probably finished Left Wing Working Class Political Loyalism ever getting any form of a foothold into rural Ulster. The Fundamentalists seized their opportunity and buried this form of political loyalism once and for all. Then Johnney Adair’s feud with the UVF. Just when elements within Loyalist Paramilitaries were struggling to chart its ship down a political path and direction all hell broke loose. Political Loyalism never recovered from this. Nothing is never a simple ‘black or white’ in Northern Ireland, especially if endeavoring to move a paramilitary movement onto only political activity. I will always have my suspicions as to who was really behind destroying political loyalism by such violent feuds at that time.

However one shade of loyalism politically trundled on accordingly even with the set backs and Dawn Purvis got appointed to the Northern Ireland Policing Board in 2006 which was criticized by the DUP at the time because of PUP links with paramilitaries. Coincidently 32 years before, that was the excuse of not letting the VPP join the UUUC.

Purvis would last another 4 years and then resign from the PUP after the shooting of Bobby Moffet on the Shankill.

In late 2012 the flag dispute erupted at Belfast City Hall, which generated a new and younger group of loyalists coming out onto the streets to protest, this resulted with the PUP having a bit of a resurrection at the new Super Council Elections held in 2014 gaining an additional two councilors to return a total of three councilors in Belfast and one in Causeway & Glens. This also proves the theory that in times of political distress the working class unionist communities of urban areas will vote for Loyalist Political Parties. I have always insisted that the Loyalist Paramilitaries do have a lot of support from within such communities. If they did not and where only criminal gangs they would be easily rounded up by law enforcement agencies.

The outworkings of the Brexit Deal between the British Government and the EU with the implementation of the Protocol shook the trust Loyalism had in the GFA to its foundations. When Gusty Spence announced after the GFA that the ‘Union is Safe’ he and Loyalism did not expect that Agreement to be threw in the dust bin by both the British and Irish Governments and guarantees of that agreement with an economic border imposed down the Irish Sea over the heads of one community of Northern Ireland. This resulted in the PUP declaring no longer supporting the GFA in 2021 and thus leaving every shade of loyalism outside this tent.

Today Political Loyalism is in bad shape and I will return to the start of the conversion that made me pen this article. For 50 years Political Loyalism fought Paisleyite Politics in them loyalist heartlands. They Won ! , We got Bate ! I will let others debate if this was good for Northern Irish Society ?

This is a guest slot to give a platform for new writers either as a one off, or a prelude to becoming part of the regular Slugger team.