The United Party held power three times in the Territory. Firstly, from its formation in 1967 until 1971. In 1975 it regained power as part of a coalition with Willard Wheatley until 1979. It regained power for the final time in November 1983 as part of a coalition with Cyril Romney. However, when Cyril Romney stepped down as Chief Minister and left the party, the party lost its overall majority and was replaced by the Virgin Islands Party, and never again emerged subsequently as a major political force.
The last election in which the United Party won a seat was the 1995 general election when Conrad Maduro and Andre Penn were the only candidates to win a seat. Although various candidates ran under the United Party banner in the 1999 general election, none were elected. In the 2003 general election only Conrad Maduro ran for the party (unsuccessfully). Maduro ran again in the 2005 by-election following the death of Paul Wattley (also unsuccessfully), and thereafter the United Party had ceased to function as a political party.
Possible revival
In June 2014 Conrad Maduro announced his desire to return the United Party to political prominence, and confirmed that if selected as a candidate he would run in the next general election.[1] It is unclear who the prospective candidates might be, but Maduro referred to the people expressing an interest as being "young people". In the end the party did not put any candidates forward at the 2015 election.
Another potential revival was also suggested in July 2018.[2]
