Hugh Smyth
Encyclopedia
Cllr Hugh Smyth is a former leader of the Progressive Unionist Party
. He is a long-serving member of Belfast City Council
and former Lord Mayor of Belfast
. He is also the longest-serving member of the council, having represented the Upper Shankill areas since 1973
. Smyth was awarded the Order of the British Empire
in the 1996 New Year's Honours list.
under the label of 'Independent Unionist
', a well-established term used in Northern Irish politics for those associated with Unionism
but not the major unionist parties. Whilst serving in the Assembly Smyth was claimed by the UVF as a member of the Ulster Loyalist Front, a political arm that the group had established in October 1973. Although it revealed some policies, including increased use of referenda and workers ownership initiatives, improvements in social care and alterations to the educational and social housing systems, the group disappeared almost immediately and Smyth retained his independent designation. He also joined its successor group, the Volunteer Political Party
, when it was formed but this group also made no impact and dissolved soon afterwards. Smyth was also elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
in 1975, once again as an independent Unionist. Smyth also remained close to the UVF and on 2 October 1975 he accompanied a UVF delegation to a meeting with leading figures in the Northern Ireland Office
.
within the Ulster Defence Association
, with Smyth and his fellow founders fearing that their description as "independent Unionists" might leading to them being associated with independence to which they were opposed. Smyth was close to leading UVF member Gusty Spence
, who had become a supporter of political methods, and the two worked to recruit David Ervine
to the PUP after being impressed by his ability as a speaker. Hoping to gain some understanding of his republican
opponents, Smyth was one of only two unionist politicians to accept an offer to visit Provisional Irish Republican Army
inmates in Long Kesh during the early 1980s (the other being John Carson
)
As leader of the PUP Smyth ran as a candidate for West Belfast
in the elections to the 1982 Assembly although he failed to take the seat and the PUP as a whole did not gain any representation. Indeed, although Smyth managed to build up a strong personal following on the Shankill Road, this did not transfer to the rest of the PUP which enjoyed little success elsewhere, barring a single member's election to Carrickfergus Borough Council
in 1989, until after the 1994 ceasefire.
for "Area E" which included the Glencairn, Woodvale, Ballysillan, Highfield, Legoniel and Ardoyne areas. As of 2011 Smyth continues to sit on Belfast City Council now representing the Court electoral area which covers Glencairn, Highfield, Woodvale and the mid and lower Shankill areas. Smyth was appointed as Alderman
in 1978, receiving the same honour in 1985, 1989 and 1993. In 1983 he was chosen as deputy mayor and served in this capacity again in 1993 before being appointed as Lord Mayor in June 1994. He again served as deputy mayor in 2001. As a councillor Smyth has been willing to oppose the main unionist parties on some issues, as he demonstrated in 1991 when he helped to overturn a ban on government ministers visiting Belfast City Hall
, an initiative passed by unionist councillors in 1985 as a reaction to the Anglo-Irish Agreement
.
, of which the UVF was a member, Smyth became an important figure in the negotiations that followed, accompanying Ervine and Ulster Democratic Party
representatives Gary McMichael
and John White
to 10 Downing Street
in June 1996 for a meeting designed to prevent the collapse of the ceasefire. Indeed Spence has claimed that Smyth personally held a number of individual meetings with John Major
in the aftermath of the ceasefire. The same year Smyth was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum
, along with Ervine, as "top-up" members on account of the PUP finishing in seventh place overall. Following his election Smyth clashed with UK Unionist Party
leader Robert McCartney
who, like Smyth, was born in Belfast
's Shankill Road. McCartney suggested that the two were thus similar but for one thing - McCartney had got out, a rebuke to Smyth and the run-down and deprived state of the Shankill area.
In the 1997 general election
Smyth stood as PUP candidate in South Antrim
where his 9% vote share was seen as a respectable result in what had been a traditionally solid Ulster Unionist Party
seat. Smyth gave up leadership of the PUP in 2002 with Ervine chosen as his successor. He was subsequently a candidate in the Northern Ireland Assembly
elections of 2003
and 2007
in his home constituency of West Belfast
although the party did not contest the seat in 2011. However Smyth successfully defended his council seat in the 2011 local elections.
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party is a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979...
. He is a long-serving member of Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...
and former Lord Mayor of Belfast
Lord Mayor of Belfast
The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairman of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 51 councillors.The Lord Mayor is Niall Ó Donnghaile of Sinn Féin, while the Deputy Lord Mayor is Ruth Patterson of the Democratic Unionist Party, who were elected in May 2011.The...
. He is also the longest-serving member of the council, having represented the Upper Shankill areas since 1973
Northern Ireland local elections, 1973
Local government in Northern Ireland was reorganised in 1973 by the Local Government Act 1971 and the Local Government Act 1972...
. Smyth was awarded the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in the 1996 New Year's Honours list.
Emergence in politics
Smyth first came to attention in the early 1970s when he served as a public spokesman for the Ulster Volunteer Force. He was not, however, an active member of the organisation. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1973Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973
-Seats summary:-Source:* http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fa73.htm...
under the label of 'Independent Unionist
Independent Unionist
See also Independent .Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for Unionism, retaining the unity of the British state....
', a well-established term used in Northern Irish politics for those associated with Unionism
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
but not the major unionist parties. Whilst serving in the Assembly Smyth was claimed by the UVF as a member of the Ulster Loyalist Front, a political arm that the group had established in October 1973. Although it revealed some policies, including increased use of referenda and workers ownership initiatives, improvements in social care and alterations to the educational and social housing systems, the group disappeared almost immediately and Smyth retained his independent designation. He also joined its successor group, the Volunteer Political Party
Volunteer Political Party
The Volunteer Political Party was a loyalist political party launched in Northern Ireland on 22 June 1974 by members of the then recently legalised Ulster Volunteer Force . The Chairman was Ken Gibson from East Belfast, an ex-internee and UVF chief of staff at the time...
, when it was formed but this group also made no impact and dissolved soon afterwards. Smyth was also elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was an elected body set up in 1975 by the UK Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland....
in 1975, once again as an independent Unionist. Smyth also remained close to the UVF and on 2 October 1975 he accompanied a UVF delegation to a meeting with leading figures in the Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office is a United Kingdom government department responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and is based in Northern Ireland at Stormont House.-Role:...
.
Progressive unionist
Smyth and some like-minded followers came together in 1978 under the name Independent Unionist Group, a more formalised alliance of working-class independent unionists based in Belfast of which Smyth was leader. The group was close to the UVF. This group would change its name to the Progressive Unionist Party the following year as a response to the growing Ulster nationalismUlster nationalism
Ulster nationalism is the name given to a school of thought in Northern Irish politics that seeks the independence of Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom without becoming part of the Republic of Ireland, thereby becoming an independent sovereign state separate from England, Scotland and Wales...
within the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
, with Smyth and his fellow founders fearing that their description as "independent Unionists" might leading to them being associated with independence to which they were opposed. Smyth was close to leading UVF member Gusty Spence
Gusty Spence
Augustus Andrew "Gusty" Spence was a leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force and a leading loyalist politician. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade but later renounced violence and joined the Progressive Unionist...
, who had become a supporter of political methods, and the two worked to recruit David Ervine
David Ervine
David Ervine was a Northern Irish politician and the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party .-Biography:...
to the PUP after being impressed by his ability as a speaker. Hoping to gain some understanding of his republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
opponents, Smyth was one of only two unionist politicians to accept an offer to visit Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
inmates in Long Kesh during the early 1980s (the other being John Carson
John Carson (politician)
John Carson is a former Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party politician.A draper who owned a shop in the interface area of the Duncairn Gardens in north Belfast, Carson was elected to Belfast City Council in 1973. The following year he was elected as a member of the United Ulster Unionist...
)
As leader of the PUP Smyth ran as a candidate for West Belfast
Belfast West (Assembly constituency)
Belfast West is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
in the elections to the 1982 Assembly although he failed to take the seat and the PUP as a whole did not gain any representation. Indeed, although Smyth managed to build up a strong personal following on the Shankill Road, this did not transfer to the rest of the PUP which enjoyed little success elsewhere, barring a single member's election to Carrickfergus Borough Council
Carrickfergus Borough Council
Carrickfergus Borough Council is a district council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. The council headquarters are in Carrickfergus and the council administers the town, on the north shore of Belfast Lough, and surrounding area, which extends from Greenisland in the south-west to Whitehead in...
in 1989, until after the 1994 ceasefire.
Belfast City Council
Smyth was first elected to the council in 1972 as representative for the Shankill ward. Following a change in council structure, he was re-elected the following yearNorthern Ireland local elections, 1973
Local government in Northern Ireland was reorganised in 1973 by the Local Government Act 1971 and the Local Government Act 1972...
for "Area E" which included the Glencairn, Woodvale, Ballysillan, Highfield, Legoniel and Ardoyne areas. As of 2011 Smyth continues to sit on Belfast City Council now representing the Court electoral area which covers Glencairn, Highfield, Woodvale and the mid and lower Shankill areas. Smyth was appointed as Alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
in 1978, receiving the same honour in 1985, 1989 and 1993. In 1983 he was chosen as deputy mayor and served in this capacity again in 1993 before being appointed as Lord Mayor in June 1994. He again served as deputy mayor in 2001. As a councillor Smyth has been willing to oppose the main unionist parties on some issues, as he demonstrated in 1991 when he helped to overturn a ban on government ministers visiting Belfast City Hall
Belfast City Hall
Belfast City Hall is the civic building of the Belfast City Council. Located in Donegall Square, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, it faces north and effectively divides the commercial and business areas of the city centre.-History:...
, an initiative passed by unionist councillors in 1985 as a reaction to the Anglo-Irish Agreement
Anglo-Irish Agreement
The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland...
.
Ceasefire and after
Following the 1994 ceasefire by the Combined Loyalist Military CommandCombined Loyalist Military Command
The Combined Loyalist Military Command was an umbrella body for loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s, recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee....
, of which the UVF was a member, Smyth became an important figure in the negotiations that followed, accompanying Ervine and Ulster Democratic Party
Ulster Democratic Party
The Ulster Democratic Party was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association to replace their New Ulster Political Research Group...
representatives Gary McMichael
Gary McMichael
Gary McMichael is the son of former Ulster Defence Association leader John McMichael and was the leader of the now defunct Ulster Democratic Party during the peace process....
and John White
John White (loyalist)
John White is a former leading loyalist in Northern Ireland. He was sometimes known by the nickname 'Coco'. White was a leading figure in the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association and, following a prison sentence for murder, entered politics as a central figure in the Ulster Democratic...
to 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
in June 1996 for a meeting designed to prevent the collapse of the ceasefire. Indeed Spence has claimed that Smyth personally held a number of individual meetings with John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
in the aftermath of the ceasefire. The same year Smyth was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum
Northern Ireland Forum
The Northern Ireland Forum was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998....
, along with Ervine, as "top-up" members on account of the PUP finishing in seventh place overall. Following his election Smyth clashed with UK Unionist Party
UK Unionist Party
The UK Unionist Party was a small unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest a by-election the North Down by-election, 1995 and then further constituted to contest the 1996...
leader Robert McCartney
Robert McCartney (politician)
Robert Law McCartney QC is a Northern Ireland barrister and former leader of the UK Unionist Party.He was initially a member of the Ulster Unionist Party but was expelled in June 1987 when he refused to withdraw from the general election of that year...
who, like Smyth, was born in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
's Shankill Road. McCartney suggested that the two were thus similar but for one thing - McCartney had got out, a rebuke to Smyth and the run-down and deprived state of the Shankill area.
In the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
Smyth stood as PUP candidate in South Antrim
South Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)
South Antrim is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:From 1885, this constituency was one of four county divisions of the former Antrim constituency...
where his 9% vote share was seen as a respectable result in what had been a traditionally solid Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
seat. Smyth gave up leadership of the PUP in 2002 with Ervine chosen as his successor. He was subsequently a candidate in the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
elections of 2003
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003
The second elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on Wednesday 26 November 2003. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary...
and 2007
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007
The third elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 7 March 2007 when 108 new members were elected. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their...
in his home constituency of West Belfast
Belfast West (Assembly constituency)
Belfast West is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
although the party did not contest the seat in 2011. However Smyth successfully defended his council seat in the 2011 local elections.