It participated as part of the larger Spain-wide right-wing block Alianza Popular and won a seat held by Miguel Ramón Izquierdo.

This election elevated UV to its all-time record, 10.5% of the total votes,[4] with this figure remarkably higher in its electoral stronghold, the Valencian speaking areas in the Valencia province.

The new situation allowed both opposition parties, the Partido Popular (PP), which was short of a majority, and UV to agree on a coalition government to oust the PSOE from regional rule after the latter had served 12 consecutive years in office.

At the same time, the party received a fatal blow when leader Vicente González Lizondo died in 1997 after suffering a heart attack while on duty at the Corts.

[5] With UV being primarily based on a reactive idea such as blaverism rather than on a consistent ideological set of policies, the loss of its founder and leader was a setback from which it has not recovered.

Then, in 1999 – at the first elections after UV's support had been crucial in forming a government – the party suffered a serious blow when its vote share of 4.76% (down from 7.1%) was just short of the 5% threshold necessary to win seats at the Corts.

In those elections, the PP, which had received the lion's share of former UV votes, achieved an absolute majority in the Corts, thus completing its electoral strategy for hegemony in the Valencian Community.

For the 2004 general election, the party revived its electoral pact with the Partido Popular and obtained a seat in the Spanish Senate held by José María Chiquillo.

[11] The party made a late attempt to contest the 2011 Spanish General Election but failed to secure the 0.1% of signatures necessary to appear on the ballot paper.