Prospective candidates for the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party faced a final deadline today to enter the race to succeed David Trimble.
All nominations will have to be in by 5pm, with the candidates then having just one week to persuade party members to back them.
Three candidates, all Assembly members, have declared their intention to run.
First out of the blocks was Strangford MLA David McNarry, a prominent member of the Protestant Orange Order and a former Trimble aide.
Former Stormont Economy Minister Sir Reg Empey is believed to be the current favourite.
The East Belfast MLA is understood to have the backing of as many as 16 of the party's Assembly members and other leading figures including former Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP Lord Maginnis of Drumglass who decided this week not to enter the race.
The third candidate is former army major and Northern Ireland Policing Board member Alan McFarland.
The North Downs MLA has the backing of the sole Ulster Unionist MP in the House of Commons, Lady Sylvia Hermon, who also turned down requests for her to run because of family commitments.
Mr Trimble quit last month as Ulster Unionist leader after his party lost four Commons seats in the general election.
The rival Democratic Unionists, led by the Rev Ian Paisley, have been the largest unionist party and the largest party in Northern Ireland since the November 2003 Assembly elections.
All three candidates in the leadership race have talked of the need to rebuild the UUP following its electoral setbacks and splits that led to prominent figures like Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson and Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Arlene Foster leaving the party for the DUP.
PA