United Kingdom Unionist Party leader Robert McCartney will not contest the Westminster elections, he announced yesterday.
Mr McCartney's decision not to run will lead to a tight contest between the Ulster Unionist Party's Lady Sylvia Hermon and the Democratic Unionist Party's Peter Weir in the North Down constituency. Mr Weir, a former UUP member, will aim to consolidate the anti-Belfast Agreement push against Lady Hermon, who is loyal to UUP leader David Trimble.
In June 2001, Lady Hermon defeated Mr McCartney by some 7,300 votes, with 56 per cent of the poll. However, she is defending her seat at a time when the UUP is under threat across Northern Ireland from the DUP advance. If the McCartney and DUP votes combine, then Mr Weir could outpoll Lady Hermon.
Mr McCartney said at Stormont he had received assurances from the Democratic Unionists that there would be no power-sharing with Sinn Féin.
Claiming the Belfast Agreement was now dead and there was no need for him to run, he said: "To all those loyal supporters in North Down who have given me their encouragement and votes, I give my sincere thanks." He added: "I will continue to serve their interests and that of the pro-Union community in Northern Ireland as an elected representative, and to blow the whistle if their interests or welfare are put at risk by those who may represent them in the future."
Lady Hermon's victory in 2001 was facilitated by the decision of the Alliance party's Stephen Farry not to run, thus ensuring that the pro-agreement vote was not split. The decision by Alliance to stand this time adds to the unpredictability of the outcome.
David Alderdice, a former Belfast lord mayor and brother of the former Assembly speaker, is the Alliance nominee this time. North Down has gone against the trend in unionist strongholds, having been represented by Sir James Kilfedder, of the Ulster Popular Unionist Party, since the 1970s.
Mr McCartney won a by-election to take the seat in 1995, retaining it in 1997 and topping the poll in the 1998 Assembly election.
"North Down is now very much a two-horse race between myself and DUP," Lady Hermon said last night.
"I am quietly confident that the people of North Down will back my position and acknowledge the work I have done when we go to the polls on May 5th."
DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley declared yesterday that every Ulster Unionist seat at Westminster was vulnerable.
"I believe that no Ulster Unionist seat is safe in this election," he said, echoing claims made last year by deputy leader Peter Robinson.
"I am not saying that because I want to believe it but because that is the report that I am getting," he said.