TOM ELLIOTT, a 46-year-old Assembly member for Fermanagh-South Tyrone, was last night elected the new leader of the Ulster Unionist Party to succeed Sir Reg Empey.
A traditionalist Ulster Unionist, part-time farmer and former member of the Royal Irish Regiment and Ulster Defence Regiment, he defeated the Lagan Valley MLA, Basil McCrea (50), viewed as a party moderniser.
Over 900 of the 2,000 UUP members entitled to participate in the poll gathered in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall to vote for the new leader. As UUP members assembled it became quickly apparent that Mr Elliott had the advantage.
He entered the Waterfront conscious that he had the backing of most of the party’s Assembly members. He also put considerable organisation into his campaign. Five buses ferried many of his supporters to Belfast from Fermanagh and Tyrone last night.
Mr McCrea, however, had hoped that the majority of rank and file members would rally to his cause. But in the end Mr Elliott won by 643 votes to 294, 69 per cent to 31 per cent.
While Mr McCrea, who was born in Ramelton, Co Donegal, sought more middle-ground unionist support, Mr Elliott played to a conservative base. He indicated he would not attend a GAA match or gay pride march, and in one radio interview last week pointedly refused to unequivocally offer an opinion as to who he wanted to win the All-Ireland final, Down or Cork.
Mr Elliott faces formidable challenges to try to restore the lost fortunes of the once-dominant Ulster Unionist Party. He has taken the helm of a party founded 105 years ago, following such UUP leaders as Edward Carson, James Craig, Basil Brooke, Terence O’Neill, Brian Faulkner and Nobel laureate David Trimble.
He has the immediate challenge of trying to prepare the party for next May’s Assembly elections against the DUP, which has usurped the UUP as the main unionist party. The DUP holds 36 Assembly seats against 17 for the UUP.
In 1997 the UUP held 10 Westminster seats while the DUP held just two. But by 2005 the UUP had collapsed to just one seat against nine for the DUP. In the Westminster elections earlie this year the UUP was left with no seat.
Ahead of the vote Mr McCrea offered to make Mr Elliott his deputy if he were elected leader. He said he was happy with the way the debate had rekindled interest in the UUP.
Mr Elliott said he would not be offering posts to anyone within the party until sometime after last night’s vote. He must now decide whether to have sweeping changes to his various spokespeople, and whether he should replace one or both of the UUP Ministers in the Northern Executive, Sir Reg and Michael McGimpsey in health. He must also decide whether he will give Mr McCrea a prominent role.
Mr Elliott said he was buoyed by the fact that so many Ulster Unionists turned out to vote. UUP peer Lord Rogan also took hope from the attendance. “This is the largest Ulster Unionist gathering in recent memory,” he said.