The United National Party celebrates its 70th anniversary at a large rally held at the Campbell Park in Borella.

The anniversary fell on September 6 and the rally was organized for today.

The UNP was founded on September 6, 1945, at a meeting held at Palm Court, Albert Crescent. There were 205 members at the time of the founding.

The first leader of the party was D.S. Senanayake. Founding Vice Presidents included S W R D Bandaranayake, T B Jayah, Arunachalam Mahadeva, S Natesan, J L Kotalawela and George R de Silva; There were two founding Joint Treasurers, A R A Razik and J R Jayewardene and the founding Secretary of the party was H W Amarasuriya.

The UNP came to power after the 1947 election and won the 1952 General Election as well. Its best victory was the 1977 Election when it won 140 out of 168 seats in Parliament. Its worst performances were in 1956 when it fell to 8 out of 95 elected members and in 1970 when it fell to 17 out of 168 members.