Tories to move West Belfast writ next week…

Yesterday the Andersonstown News revealed that there is likely to be a by election for West Belfast on the 9th June, and that the person who will run unopposed for for Sinn Fein is Paul Maskey, chair of the PAC in the last Assembly.

Slugger understands that it is the Tory Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlan who plans to move the writ on Monday. The precedent has usually related to independent MPs. For instance, Jim Molyneaux moved the writ for Fermanagh South Tyrone when Frank Maguire died, whilst Dafydd Elis-Thomas moved the subsequent writ on the death of Bobby Sands.

And for the record, Gerry Adams is no longer Royal Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.

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.