Jim Allister was in Fermanagh tonight at a public meeting. During the course of his speech he called for a single non party unionist candidate for Fermanagh South Tyrone at the Westminster election. Allister suggested that both Arlene Foster and Tom Elliott stand aside and pointed out that a single nationalist candidate had been run in the past.
This call is likely to further unsettle the UUP who have already proven somewhat shaky regarding the commitment made on their behalf by David Cameron to fight in every seat. Fermanagh unionists seem extremely keen to have a unity candidate but the history of mutual distrust between the DUP and UUP and the personalities involved makes uniting behind a DUP or UUP candidate unlikely. A single (especially non party) unionist might stand a decent chance of unseating Gildernew but it seems highly unlikely that there will be any such agreement.
This author has not written a biography and will not be writing one.