The Conservative Party’s Westminster PPC for East Belfast, Neil Wilson, has hit out at the electoral pact announced yesterday by the Democratic Unionist Party and the Ulster Unionist Party.
"Five years ago the UUP agreed with Conservatives that it was time for genuine British electoral politics in Northern Ireland”, Neil explained. “Sadly they've now slid backwards into the politics of tribal headcounts, by siding with the DUP. The pact seems to mark the end of the Ulster Unionists as an independent party and that will horrify many of their members and supporters.”
"It's now quite clear that the Conservatives are the only party for those who want non-tribal, pro-Union politics in Northern Ireland or who want a voice at the top level at Westminster. Ulster Unionist voters, people who don’t vote or even DUP voters, who believe that we deserve better than sectarian head-counts, have an electoral home with the Conservatives.”