Harry West

Henry William West (27 March 1917 – 5 February 2004) was a politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 1974 until 1979.[1]

Harry West
Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party
In office
22 January 1974  7 September 1979
Preceded byBrian Faulkner
Succeeded byJames Molyneaux
Member of The UK Parliament
for Fermanagh and South Tyrone
In office
28 February 1974  10 October 1974
Preceded byFrank McManus
Succeeded byFrank Maguire
Member of The Northern Ireland Parliament for Enniskillen
In office
8 May 1954  18 July 1973
Preceded byThomas Nelson
Succeeded byAbolished
Personal details
Born(1917-03-27)27 March 1917
Enniskillen, Ireland
Died5 February 2004(2004-02-05) (aged 86)
Enniskillen, Northern Ireland
NationalityBritish
Political partyUlster Unionist Party
Spouse(s)Maureen Hall
Children7
ProfessionFarmer

Career to Stormont

West was born in County Fermanagh and educated at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen. He worked as a farmer, taking an interest in local government, but it was not until 1954 that he entered Stormont as member for the Enniskillen seat, succeeding Thomas Nelson. In 1960 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture in the government of Lord Brookeborough, which he was to retain under the leadership of Terence O'Neill.

He became one of a number of Stormont MPs critical of O'Neill's conciliatory approach towards Nationalists and in 1969 he had the whip withdrawn, along with William Craig.[1] In 1971 the whip was restored under the new Ulster Unionist leader and Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Brian Faulkner. West became Minister of Agriculture once more and retained that position until the Stormont government was dissolved in 1972.

Sunningdale

West emerged as a fierce critic of the negotiations that would lead to the Sunningdale Agreement, and led the "anti-White Paper" Unionists in the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973. When in January 1974 the Ulster Unionist Council voted against Faulkner's course of action the latter was forced into resignation. West succeeded him as leader of the party and sought to regain much of the support that the party had lost to breakaway and other Unionist groupings. In the February 1974 general election West negotiated the United Ulster Unionist Coalition with the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party, led by Craig, and the Democratic Unionist Party, led by Ian Paisley, which would put up a single anti-Sunningdale Unionist candidate in all twelve constituencies on a platform of abolishing the power-sharing executive. West himself stood in Fermanagh and South Tyrone and won, albeit due to a split nationalist vote.

The UUUC campaigned fiercely for the abolition of the executive, which came about in May 1974 following a general strike. West continued to seek ways to expand unionism and recruited the ex-Conservative Member of Parliament Enoch Powell to the party. Powell stood for and won the South Down constituency in the October 1974 general election, but his opposition to the restoration of Stormont and preference for greater integration with the United Kingdom was to cause ruptures within the party. West himself lost his seat in Parliament due to a pact between Nationalists, so having the dubious distinction of being the only MP who served between the two general elections in 1974 who never served in any other Parliament, but he remained leader of the party. The UUUC lasted another few years and won the overwhelming majority of the seats in the 1975 Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention which sought to gain consensus on the future of the province. When the Vanguard Party fell apart over proposals for a voluntary coalition with the Social Democratic and Labour Party, West negotiated with Craig for the majority faction to merge into the Ulster Unionists.

The 1979 general election was relatively disappointing for the Ulster Unionists, as they won only five of the province's twelve constituencies. In June 1979 West stood as one of two candidates in the first elections to the European Parliament. However he was unsuccessful in the Single Transferable Vote constituency for the entire province and had the personal humiliations of seeing rival DUP leader Ian Paisley top the poll, fellow Ulster Unionist John Taylor win one of the seats and former Ulster Unionist member James Kilfedder performing better than West to become runner up. West resigned shortly afterwards.

April 1981 by-election in Fermanagh and South Tyrone

He remained active in the Ulster Unionists for some years and was the party's unsuccessful candidate in the bitter April 1981 by-election in Fermanagh and South Tyrone caused by the death of the sitting MP Frank Maguire, West received 29,046 votes and was defeated by Bobby Sands standing on an Anti-H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner ticket with 30,493 votes; Sands died twenty-six days after his election. West was considered to have fought a lacklustre campaign, and the UUP chose Ken Maginnis instead to fight the second by-election; although he did not win he was considered to have fought a more dynamic campaign. Afterwards West remained a member of the Ulster Unionist Council and was highly critical of his successor, James Molyneaux, for his opposition to proposals for power sharing devolution.

Family

He was married to Maureen Hall and they had four sons and three daughters. He was a Presbyterian.

His nephew is James Cooper, who was chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party from 2003 to 2005 and unsuccessfully was the Party's candidate in Fermanagh and South Tyrone in 2001.

See also

References

  1. "West, Rt Hon. Henry William, (27 March 1917–5 Feb. 2004), PC (N Ire) 1960; Leader, Ulster Unionist Party, 1974–79", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u39369
Parliament of Northern Ireland
Preceded by
Thomas Nelson
Member of Parliament for Enniskillen
1954–1973
Parliament abolished
Northern Ireland Assembly (1973)
New assembly Assembly Member for Fermanagh & South Tyrone
1973–1974
Assembly abolished
Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
New convention Member for Fermanagh & South Tyrone
1975–1976
Convention dissolved
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Frank McManus
Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone
1974
Succeeded by
Frank Maguire
Party political offices
Preceded by
John Edgar Bailey
Unionist Assistant Whip
1958
Succeeded by
William James Morgan
Preceded by
Brian Faulkner
Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party
1974–1979
Succeeded by
James Molyneaux
Political offices
Preceded by
John Edgar Bailey
Assistant Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Finance
1958
Succeeded by
William James Morgan
Preceded by
John Bailey
Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture
1958–1960
Succeeded by
Vacant
Preceded by
Robert Moore
Minister of Agriculture
1960–1967
Succeeded by
James Chichester-Clark
Preceded by
Phelim O'Neill
Minister of Agriculture
1971–1972
Office abolished
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