Mr David Trimble has vowed to win any contest for the leadership of the Ulster Unionists at the party's annual general meeting on March 27th. Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor, reports.
Speculation intensified yesterday that criticism of Mr Trimble's leadership, which has been building since the Assembly elections in November, would result in a challenger stepping forward to take him on.
This is despite what appears to have been a close vote among members of the Assembly party concerning a letter, signed by three Ulster Unionists unhappy with the leader, which referred to a possible no-confidence debate in him.
Party rules require that the leader seek re-election annually. But despite the rumblings and the defection of three members to the DUP in January, no single challenger has been identified to spearhead the move against Mr Trimble.
There were indications yesterday that of 23 UUP members present at the meeting at Stormont, 11 did not vote for Mr Trimble's call not to act on the letter. A prominent Trimble critic, Lord Kilclooney (John Taylor), was not present.
Questioned about this yesterday, Mr Trimble was strident in his denial that his leadership was in trouble.
"We had a good meeting and a good discussion. I am entirely happy with the conduct and outcome of the meeting, " he said.
"As we agreed we would not comment on the detail of it, I am going to stick to that."
But when pressed on reports of the meeting and a tight vote, he said that those who were spreading such notions were "completely wrong".
Asked specifically if 11 Assembly members had in fact voted to discuss the letter concerning a no-confidence motion, Mr Trimble said: "I am not going to go into detail about the meeting and I'm sorry that some other colleagues have.
"Let me say I am quite happy with the outcome of the meeting and I am quite confident that when the vote comes on my leadership on the 27th, I am extremely confident of the outcome."
He added that he fully expected a vote on his leadership to go ahead unless, as in previous years, he was re-elected unopposed.
Asked if the meeting changed anything about his preparations for the party's a.g.m., Mr Trimble said: "Not in the slightest."
Last night, one of the letter's authors, Mr David Burnside, said that a challenger would take on Mr Trimble at the a.g.m. unless Mr Trimble's resignation preceded it.
"There will be a contest at our council's annual general meeting if David Trimble does not agree to stand down in the interests of the party," he said.
The inclusion of Mr Burnside, one of three MPs who resigned the party whip last June to oppose the Trimble line on the Joint Declaration, in any attempted heave is as expected.
However, some of the names on the list of 11 supplied to The Irish Times are surprising.
The Assembly party has been a source of support for Mr Trimble at times when his leadership is under the most severe pressure. If 11 members of the group - now numbering just 24, compared with the DUP's 33 - are not standing by their leader, the Mr Trimble's difficulties ahead of the agm appear to be mounting.
One unionist source admitted that the leadership was wary of a sense of momentum building up in the media against Mr Trimble.