Jackie McDonald was chosen as McMichael's replacement by Andy Tyrie, but he was not trusted by the rest of the leadership and was removed less than a year later following his arrest for extortion, allowing Kerr to become the new brigadier.
In the spring of 1991, a year and a half before its proscription, the UDA aligned with the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and its subsidiary group, the Red Hand Commando to establish the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC).
Along with McFarland, Kerr represented a middle group who demonstrated general agreement with English but also expressed sympathy for Adair's position that a recent upturn in UDA activity was winning the struggle against the IRA for them.
[12] Seeking to begin an internal campaign against the agreement Kerr initially targeted the UDP, having supporters write "Ulster Drugs Party" on the walls of The Village area of Donegall Road, a stronghold of the South Belfast Brigade.
[11] Kerr became a regular face at the Drumcree conflict where he was often in the company of Billy Wright;[2] before long the two were closely linked due to their shared distaste for the strategy of the loyalist paramilitary-linked political parties.
[12] As part of the protests a mechanical digger appeared on the loyalist side and rumours circulated that the machine was armour plated and was to be driven at the security forces.
[13] Pictures were broadcast in 1996 of the two men directing rioters on Drumcree hill against the security forces, and the CLMC decided to act against the pair after Wright's ally Clifford McKeown shot and killed a Catholic taxi driver on 1 July.
[20] Kerr joined Wright, head of the local Orange Order Harold Gracey and Democratic Unionist Party MP William McCrea on a platform in Portadown hours before the deadline for him to leave Northern Ireland or face death was due to expire.
[22] Seeking to demonstrate the capabilities of the new group, Kerr invited the media to an LVF show of strength at Annahilt in autumn 1996 but the publicity proved counter-productive as the RUC arrived and arrested everybody at the scene.
Fulton, who had succeeded to the leadership of the LVF following Wright's 1997 killing by the Irish National Liberation Army, was pursuing Kerr's earlier idea of a close relationship with the UDA.
[24] Press reports in 2002 linked Kerr with a shadowy group of UDA dissidents who released a series of statements attacking the leadership of Jackie McDonald, and the peace process.