Another week, another defection

Readers will probably be aware that  the DUP have gained another defection from the UUP. Deputy Mayor, Harry Dunlop, has defected saying that the party no longer represented the Unionist values he believed in. Last month Castlereagh Deputy Mayor, David Drysdale, also left the party arguing he has difficulty with UUP policy.

Since being elected as the Leader of the UUP back in September Tom Elliott has presided over the resignation of three of their Conservative and Unionist Westminster candidates; Harry Hamilton, Paula Bradshaw and Trevor Ringland. Local Councillors are viewed to represent the ‘grassroots’ of your party, so what next for Mr Elliott? Are we witnessing a grassroots rebellion four months into his Leadership?

I think the question that Tom Elliott has to find the answer to is: what is the UUP about now? The party have lost their way, joined forces with the Tories but have still been unable to define what they are post-2003. They have failed to convince the electorate that they are still relevant. Four months in, the second Leader since David Trimble and he has failed to define the UUP. Is the end near for the UUP?

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.