The UUP have confirmed they will stand aside in North Belfast, as well as West Belfast and Foyle. This effectively clears the way for the DUP Deputy Leader, Nigel Dodds to keep the seat, if the other parties don’t come to some sort of arrangement.
Speaking about the election the party leader, Robin Swann said;
“The General Election has been called and we have moved quickly to put Ulster Unionist Party candidates in the strongest possible position in advance of the General Election on 8th June. Today, we have ratified Tom Elliott as our Westminster candidate in Fermanagh & South Tyrone and Danny Kinahan as our candidate in South Antrim. Both Tom and Danny have shown what a difference two Ulster Unionist MPs can make in Westminster. I want to see Tom and Danny returned to Westminster alongside other colleagues.
“For the purposes of this General Election, and only this election, we have also taken the unilateral decision to withdraw from the constituencies of North Belfast, West Belfast and Foyle.
David McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
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