Would you like to be the next UUP leader? Here’s how |
ONE hundred people could take over the Ulster Unionist Party.
I always marvel at this when I notice Northern Ireland’s far left setting up or infiltrating another campaign or protest group.
They will despatch bus-loads of activists to wave placards at some obscure protest, yet one double-decker could hold enough Trots to seize the party of Carson and Craig.
Although the UUP does not reveal its total membership, academic studies consistently estimate it at around 2,000.
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Newton Emerson: Would you like to be the next UUP leader? Here’s how
Of these, 400 are believed to be active – turning up at meetings, helping out with elections and participating in internal debates.
Active membership operates via the party’s 18 constituency associations, which select its candidates and send delegates to vote on its policies.
A takeover would only require a majority in half those associations, which could be reached with just 100 people.
If even that sounds like too much effort, 300 people could take over the UUP without leaving the house.
The party gives every member a vote in leadership contests, tempting some normally inactive members to participate. The last time it held such a contest, in 2012, the turnout was 665.
Irish dancers from the Royal Tara Dance........