1969 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election

1969 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election

← 1963 1969 1971 →

Candidate James Chichester-Clark Brian Faulkner Popular vote 18 17 Percentage 51.4% 48.6%

Leader before election Terence O'Neill Elected Leader James Chichester-Clark

The 1969 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election was the first contested election in the Party's sixty-four year history.

In 1963, Terence O'Neill had succeeded Lord Brookeborough as Party Leader and Prime Minister of Northern Ireland by emerging rather than by winning a ballot, despite having strong competition from both Brian Faulkner and Jack Andrews. On O'Neill's resignation following the inconclusive result of the 1969 general election, the division of support within the Parliamentary Group was such that an election was required to choose the new leader.