Tom Elliott won’t match Arthur Wellesley’s eminence, but the new leader of the Ulster
Unionists joins Ulster’s long tradition of soldier politicians. Elliott thumped rival Basil McCrea by 68 percent to 32 percent of the vote. He has a mandate to weld a party that has grown
dissolute through faction. It’s a tall order: the May election arguably tolled the death knell
for Unionism’s dominance of Northern Irish politics.
To succeed, the UUP must broaden its base. Elliot is an unabashed Orangeman and traditionalist. The Irish Times reports that Elliott ‘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 between Down and Cork.’
By rejecting Basil McCrea’s modernisation programme so comprehensively, the UUP has given itself little ideological room for manoeuvre.
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