Enoch Powell: I Might Stand in North – On This Day in 1974

Former Conservative cabinet minister Enoch Powell with his wife Pamela (wearing rosette) during his election campaign as an United Ulster Unionist candidate for South Down

April 19 1974

Mr Enoch Powell last night gave his broadest hint yet that he could play a part in Northern Ireland politics. He told a cheering crowd in the Ulster Hall, Belfast, that he might be prepared to accept a Northern Ireland constituency if a seat became available at Westminster.

Mr Powell – a long-time supporter of the “Loyalist” cause – said in reply to a questioner from the floor of the hall: “If such a condition were fulfilled – and that is not in my hands and cannot come from me – you must judge, and I think perhaps you have judged, from my past conduct what my answer would be.”

The 2,000-strong partisan loyalist audience shouted, sang and stamped for the man many of them hoped will one day take over as Unionist leader.

Mr Harry West, leader of the Glengall Street Unionists, said Mr Powell had given the most firm declaration of intent he had heard from him. “First we would have to ensure that our policies were in line. And we would also have to find a safe seat – possibly somewhere in Belfast.”

It is understood that the major stumbling block towards Mr Powell’s recruitment lies in differing interpretations of the north’s future role. Mr Powell – as he indicated in his speech – believes in total integration.

Before the meeting, Mr Powell and Mr West, Mr William Craig and Rev Ian Paisley had spent several hours in behind-closed-doors discussions.

Mr Powell, in his speech, made a bitter attack on Conservative policy and suggested that Northern Ireland should have more seats at Westminster.

Later, Mr Francis Pym, Opposition spokesman on Northern Ireland, described Mr Powell’s attack on Tory policy as “reprehensible”. It could scarcely count as a contribution to peace.

Mr West, Mr Craig and Mr Paisley also addressed the rally and joined in condemnation of Mr [Harold] Wilson’s coincidental visit earlier in the day.

Enoch Powell, best known for his inflammatory “rivers of blood” speech in 1968, and who served as a Conservative Minister for Health in the 1960s, did run for the Ulster Unionist Party just months later in the October 1974 Westminster election, the second election of the year, winning the South Down seat. He held on to the seat until 1987 when he lost out to the SDLP’s Eddie McGrady.