March 1995 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election

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March 1995 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election

← 1979

18 March 1995

September 1995 →


Candidate	James Molyneaux	Lee Reynolds
Popular vote	521	88
Percentage	85.6%	14.4%

Leader before election

James Molyneaux

Elected Leader

James Molyneaux

The March 1995 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election occurred at the Annual General Meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council on 18 March 1995. The UUP has had a leadership election every March since at least 1973, and this is one of the few occasions when it has been contested. James Molyneaux was re-elected as Leader with 86% of the votes.^[1]

Candidates

James H. Molyneaux MP, incumbent leader since 1979
Lee Reynolds, a 21-year-old student from Coleraine, member of the Young Unionists.

It was widely speculated that Ulster Unionist MP David Trimble was one of those behind Reynolds's candidature, although Trimble, his aides and Reynolds' supporters all denied this at the time and subsequently.^[1]

Results

Candidate	Total
Candidate	Votes	%
James Molyneaux Y	521	84.2
Lee Reynolds	88	14.2
Spoilt ballots	10	1.6
Total	619	100

Whilst Molyneaux won by a massive margin, the number of delegates who did not vote for him was seen as a substantial number. Two days later independent North Down MP, Sir James Kilfedder died in London and that the subsequent by-election was not won by the UUP was seen as further evidence of Molyneaux's failings as leader after 15 years. Molyneaux resigned on 28 August and was replaced in September. Reynolds was later co-opted onto Belfast City Council as a member of the DUP and served as the DUP’s director of policy and as a special advisor to First Minister Arlene Foster.

References

^ Goodson, Dean Himself Alone: David Trimble and the ordeal of Unionism (London, Harper Perennial, 2004), p. 127.

Notes

^ "Northern Ireland". Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2018.

v t e Ulster Unionist Party
Leaders	Saunderson Long Carson Craigavon Andrews Brookeborough O'Neill Chichester-Clark Faulkner West Molyneaux Trimble Empey Elliott Nesbitt Swann Aiken Beattie
Deputy Leaders	McCusker Taylor Empey & Beggs Kennedy McCallister Butler
Chairman	Rogan Cooper Campbell Empey Kennedy
President	Hamilton Craig J. M. Andrews Dixon Brooke Graham J. L. O. Andrews J. G. Cunningham Clark J. Cunningham Smyth Rogan White Steele (honorary)
General Secretary	Gibson Bates Hungerford Douglas Bailie Hutton Millar Wilson Boyd Patterson Rea Corry Wilson C. McCusker
Leadership elections	1969 1971 1974 1979 March 1995 September 1995 2000 2004 2005 2010 2012 2017 2019 2021 2024
Organisational structure	Young Unionists
History and related organisations	Progenitor: Irish Unionist Alliance Allies: Labour Unionists/Liberal Unionist/Conservatives Offshoots: Vanguard (1973–78)/NI21 (2013-16) Electoral alliance: UCUNF (2009)
Lists	List of Ulster Unionist Party MPs Ulster Unionist Party Presidents and General Secretaries List of Ulster Unionist Party Peers
Other topics	Chief Whip Election results Electoral history

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