March 1995 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election explained

Election Name:	March 1995 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election
Type:	presidential
Previous Election:	1979 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election
Previous Year:	1979
Next Election:	September 1995 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election
Next Year:	September 1995
Election Date:	18 March 1995
Candidate1:	James Molyneaux
Colour1:	48A5EE
Popular Vote1:	521
Percentage1:	85.6%
Candidate2:	Lee Reynolds
Colour2:	48A5EE
Popular Vote2:	88
Percentage2:	14.4%
Leader
Before Election:	James Molyneaux
After Election:	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.

Results

Candidate	Total
Candidate	Votes	%
James Molyneaux	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 and References

Web site: Northern Ireland . 28 March 2018 . 9 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160309102921/http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~tquinn/northern_ireland.htm . live .