The Ulster Unionists will elect their new party leader at a special meeting next month, it was announced today.
As one senior party member warned the UUP faced electoral annihilation unless David Trimble's successor is chosen swiftly, a decision was taken to call together the 860-strong ruling council on June 23rd.
Until then party president Sir Reg Empey and its sole remaining MP, Lady Sylvia Hermon, will be in charge.
Both Lady Sylvia and Sir Reg have been suggested as potential candidates for one of the most critical contests in the UUP's 100-year history. With the party on its knees after a disastrous showing in last week's general and local government elections, it could decide to undertake a hardline shift to rival Ian Paisley's triumphant Democratic Unionists, or else attempt a move to the centre ground.
That choice will be made within weeks following the decision of the Ulster Unionist Executive at a meeting in Belfast today.
Lord Kilclooney, the former Ulster Unionist MP John Taylor, has offered to take the job on a temporary basis. But predicting further elections if a political deal to revive the suspended Stormont power-sharing Assembly can be thrashed out, he stressed there was no time to lose.
Four UUP MPs, including Mr Trimble, lost their seats in the House of Commons last week. Forty councillors also tumbled as the Democratic Unionists swept their bitter rivals aside.
Mr Paisley now commands Northern Ireland's biggest political party, with nine representatives at Westminster.
Although Lady Sylvia has been heavily tipped as the woman to attempt a revival, she has yet to reveal whether she wants the job. But another potential runner, former South Antrim MP David Burnside, delivered a scathing assessment of her credentials today.
"She does not have the presence in the House of Commons, I believe, to be a leader of the Ulster Unionist Party," he told BBC Radio Ulster.
"If the party wants to go off on some sort of softy, wishy-washy, liberal sort of route they'll have a lot of other people who are still in the party stepping aside from it.
"We don't need to go that route."
PA