1996 Forum Election
Buoyed by the relative success of the previous election and the influx of new affiliates the UIM put up 40 candidates in 18 seats in the Northern Ireland Forum elections of 1996, representing its most high profile election campaign. With every seat contested as well as the regional list (which was headed by Ross) Kerr was placed as a candidate in North Belfast with McLeister in North Antrim, whilst other candidates who had or would go on to have a higher profile included Willie Frazer in Newry and Armagh (who subsequently organized Families Acting for Innocent Relatives and Love Ulster) and Kenny McClinton and Clifford Peeples in West Belfast (a pastor who was later jailed for terrorist related offences).
Despite this higher profile campaign the UIM's vote dropped as loyalist communities were now represented by the Ulster Democratic Party and Progressive Unionist Party. Alongside this the party was still not the only Ulster nationalist option, however, as they finished behind Ulster's Independent Voice in North Belfast and Strangford, whilst beating them in West Belfast and tying exactly with them in North Down. The UIM polled 2125 votes (0.3%) across Northern Ireland and no representation was secured.
Read more about this topic: Ulster Independence Movement
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