The Democratic Unionist Party leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, was jubilant yesterday after his candidate won the Banbridge District Council byelection. Mr Paul Rankin, who is strongly opposed to the Belfast Agreement, more than doubled the party's vote in the Dromore area.
At a Stormont press conference yesterday, Dr Paisley said the result indicated that the UUP vote had "completely and utterly collapsed".
Mr Rankin polled 1,603 first-preference votes, just under 50 per cent of the poll. The Ulster Unionist candidate, Dr Gavin Hughes, received 1,251, while the only other candidate, the SDLP's Mr Liam McDermott, got 521.