The Progressive Unionist Party last night elected Dawn Purvis as its new leader.
The former University of Ulster researcher (40) from Belfast had been chairwoman of the Ulster Volunteer Force-linked party for five years and said she was radicalised in 1994 by the example of late chief David Ervine and fellow loyalist ceasefire architect Gusty Spence.
Ms Purvis said: "I am deeply honoured to have been made the leader of the PUP. "However this is also tinged with sadness given the huge loss of David. It is a huge challenge to step into this role, especially after the good work he did.
"But this gives us an opportunity to rebuild and continue to serve working class loyalists and unionist communities," she said.
An independent member of the Policing Board since March, Ms Purvis led a loyalist delegation last September for talks on UVF decommissioning with the Independent Monitoring Commission.
The armed group declared a cessation of violence in 1994 but has been affected by factional fighting with other loyalist groups and RUC informers.
Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan published a scathing report yesterday that criticised the police's handling of north Belfast agents connected to at least 10 murders.