The Banbridge Chronicle today notes the departure of Harry Hamilton, who put the frighteners on DUP incumbent in Upper Bann in the last Westminster election in May and against the trend slightly raised the party’s share of the vote.
Instead the veteran Sam Gardiner (who was – many many moons ago – the youngest ever Mayor of Lurgan) gets to run alongside newbie politico Colin McCusker, son of former MP Harold…
That by my calculation brings the total of disaffected Westminster candidates from the UUP to three… Of all those new candidates, only Mike Nesbitt seems to have the backing of the new leadership, and looks like he might pull in something from the DUPs embarassment of riches in Strangford next May.
The UUP seems likely to remain the conservative male only club it always has been.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
