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Ideologically the UK Unionist Party is an integrationist party which, unlike most Northern Irish unionist parties, believes that Northern Ireland should be governed from London with no regional home rule government and parliament. The UKUP is outspoken in its opposition to the Republic of Ireland possessing any participative role in the governance of Northern Ireland. It is also highly critical of the British Labour government of Tony Blair for allowing Sinn Féin to participate in Northern Irish government prior to IRA fully disarming. The party also opposed the re-organising of policing in Northern Ireland, which saw the controversial Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) evolving into the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

McCartney, along two other members won seats on the 1996 Forum. The UKUP (as well as the Democratic Unionist PartyThe Democratic Unionist Party is a hardline Unionist party in Northern Ireland led by Ian Paisley. It is the largest unionist party at both the Northern Ireland Assembly level and in the Westminster Parliament. Established in the 1970s by Ian Paisley, it (DUP) refused to accept SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the United States Congress, smaller than the U. House of Representatives. Together, they compose the legislative branch of the United States government. Seal of the Senate Each state elects two senators throu George MitchellNote: Middle initial used to disambiguate from George Mitchell (musician George John Mitchell (born August 20, 1933) was a United States Senator from Maine from 1980 to 1995. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was an attorney from the 1960s. In 19 as chairman of the multi-party talks and tried to obstruct him in the undertaking of his tasks. In JulyJuly is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days. July was renamed for Julius Caesar; previously, it was called Quintilis in Latin, since it was the fifth month in the Roman calendar which started in March. Because of its orig 1996 the UKUP withdrew from the multi-party talks in protest at the way in which the stand off at the Orange OrderThe Orange Order is a Protestant fraternal organisation largely based in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which also has a worldwide membership. In Northern Ireland it is formally associated with the Ulster Unionist Party, but many of its me parade at Drumcree was handled. When Sinn Féin entered the talks in SeptemberSeptember is the ninth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 30 days. The name comes from the Latin septem for " seven" September was originally the seventh month of the year, before January and February were inserted. In Greek civilization, S, 19971997 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of the Reef''. Events January January 3 NBC's Today Show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time January 8 Mister Rogers receives a star on t the UKUP and the DUP left them in protest.

At the 1997 General ElectionResults The election was fought under new boundaries, with an additional 8 seats across the UK. Changes listed here are from the notional 1992 result had it been fought on those boundaries. These notional results were used by all media organisations at th McCartney was re-elected as an MP. The party opposed the April 1998 Belfast Agreement and campaigned against the establishment of a Northern Ireland Assembly, in which they were unsuccessful. It did contest the election for the assembly however, in which the party managed to win five seats.

In December, 1998 the party split over the issue of Sinn Féin taking up its seats in the power sharing executive without prior Provisional IRA decommissioning of weapons. McCartney censured his four Assembly colleagues in their absence over this split and in January, 1999 they all left the UKUP to form the Northern Ireland Unionist Party leaving McCartney as the sole UKUP representative in the assembly.

At the 2001 General Election McCartney lost his seat in the House of Commons to the Ulster Unionist Party. In the Northern Ireland Assembly Election, 2003 he was only narrowly re-elected to the Assembly. The party, like most other small parties, suffered a substantial decline in the election, holding only one seat. The rival Northern Ireland Unionist Party created by breakaway MLAs, lost all of its seats.