James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead
[16][17][23] His reticence was both innate and tactical; as his party was united around a constitutional stance rather than a socio-economic programme, he regarded his task as more like that of a manager than a leader, and his successor David Trimble said that Molyneaux "did things quietly and consensually".[16] Molyneaux was generally regarded as a member of the integrationist wing within the UUP (favouring direct rule from Westminster with some extension of local government powers, as opposed to the devolutionist preference for a revived Northern Ireland Parliament or a new regional Assembly).[citation needed] In the October 1985 Conservative Party Conference issue of the club's tabloid newspaper, Right Ahead, just before the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, he contributed a lengthy article entitled 'Northern Ireland – Ulster belongs to Britain NOT to the Irish Republic'.[citation needed] In March 2016, gay Conservative Party activist Christopher Luke claimed that he had had a long-term platonic ‘David and Jonathan’ relationship with Molyneaux until the latter's death.[32] According to the book Angels with Blue Faces, by the journalist Lyra McKee, Molyneaux was interviewed by a senior RUC detective in relation to the Kincora Boys' Home abuse scandal but not arrested or charged, although McKee alleged that he and others were involved in a conspiracy relating to the case: “Various names were bandied about or alluded to by the tabloid press [after the Kincora scandal erupted], so many that a senior detective investigating the home collected press clippings and followed them up.The party lost Newry and Armagh in 1986 and South Down in 1987 but maintained its number of (nine) MPs in the 1992 general election, including future leader David Trimble following his success in the 1990 Upper Bann by-election.Molyneaux had led an UUP delegation to hold talks with the Irish Government in Dublin in 1992, a significant development at that time, and his support for the Downing Street Declaration by John Major and Albert Reynolds in 1993 was "crucial, for it helped calm deep unionist fears".[36] He was re-elected in the resulting January 1986 by-election,[18] along with all but one of the fourteen other unionists: the UUP's Jim Nicholson, who was defeated in Newry and Armagh by Seamus Mallon of the SDLP.He opposed formal power-sharing between unionists and nationalists, and routinely dismissed political initiatives,[8] criticising SDLP leader John Hume for “grubbing around the back-streets of Belfast" to open dialogue with Sinn Féin while the IRA's violent campaign continued."[42] Molyneaux's maiden speech in the House of Lords, on 3 July 1997, was critical of the peace process and noted "the necessity calmly to consider the impact of current events on the long-term interests of Ulster and to give absolute priority to draining the lake of bitterness in which the terrorists have been permitted to swim for far too long.In the election, Donaldson held Lagan Valley by a large majority, while Spratt outpolled McGimpsey (although losing to the SDLP candidate Alasdair McDonnell on a split vote); many claimed that Molyneaux and Smyth's endorsements had contributed to the UUP's disastrous showing.[45] Molyneaux made his last speech to the House of Lords in February 2006, expressing concern for families affected by poor service from the Child Support Agency.