Protestant Coalition
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Robert McKee (2013-2015)
Protestant Coalition | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Jim Dowson (2013) Robert McKee (2013-2015) |
| Founder | Jim Dowson |
| Founded | 24 April 2013 |
| Dissolved | 4 November 2015 |
| Headquarters | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Ideology | Irish Unionism Ulster loyalism British nationalism Christian fundamentalism |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Religion | Protestantism |
| Colours | Red, white and blue |
| Northern Ireland Assembly | 0 / 108
|
| Local government in Northern Ireland | 0 / 582
|
The Protestant Coalition was a minor Ulster loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was registered on 23 April 2013,[1] and launched on 24 April at a hotel in Castlereagh, outside Belfast.[2] It deregistered in November 2015 without contesting any seat.
The launch of the Protestant Coalition followed a protracted dispute over the decision by Belfast City Council on 3 December 2012 to cease the practice of flying the Union Flag throughout the year over Belfast City Hall, opting instead to fly it only on up to 20 designated days per year. The council decision, by 29 votes (Alliance, Sinn Féin and Social Democratic and Labour Party) to 21 (mainly Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)), had been followed by protests throughout Northern Ireland, some of which became violent.[3] Protesters claimed that the flag decision was symptomatic of an erosion of respect for the identity of what they refer to as the PUL (Protestant unionist loyalist) community.[4]
Leadership
The party's founders included prominent anti-republican campaigner Willie Frazer; Davy Nicholl, a former member of the Ulster Defence Association-linked Ulster Democratic Party and Ulster Political Research Group; and Jim Dowson, a former fundraiser for the British National Party (BNP). Others involved in the launch were Alice Dowson, daughter of Jim; Robert Magee, from the Woodvale area of Belfast; and Bill Hill, from Tiger's Bay.
At the time of the launch, both Frazer and Jim Dowson were awaiting trial on charges related to the flag protests.[5] Although Dowson was registered with the Electoral Commission as the Protestant Coalition's leader,[1] he stated at the launch that the Coalition had no one leader.[5] Paul Golding, leader of Britain First and a former BNP councillor in Sevenoaks and until 2011 the BNP's Communications Officer, was registered as the Coalition's treasurer.[1]
Dowson, a Christian fundamentalist, also led an anti-abortion campaign, the UK Life League. In May 2011 he and Golding had launched a new far-right, nationalist movement in Britain, Britain First, to protect "British and Christian morality" and campaign against Islam, immigration and abortion.[6] Britain First registered as a political party in November 2011.[1] Golding had flown into Belfast in December 2012 to help co-ordinate the protests over the flags issue.[7]
