A bit of a surprise announcement tonight from the DUP
.@jonathanfbell will be our candidate in S Belfast. With your help he can win. Every seat will count in the next HoC. pic.twitter.com/AAwlOLDxpV
— Peter Robinson (@DUPleader) February 10, 2015
Bell who represents the Strangford constituency has been nominated to either focus the UUPs mind that time is really running out or have they possibly made the calculation that they might be able to unseat McDonnell without a unity candidate?
Regardless the response from the UUP was swift
We note that in trying to justify his selection of Jonathan Bell MLA as the DUP candidate for South Belfast in May’s General Election, Peter Robinson claimed it was because the Ulster Unionist Party had already selected a candidate for the constituency. For the record, and as he well knows, this is not true
End of unionist unity for 2015?
David McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
