East Belfast: where the progressives met their Waterloo

It is the two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. These days, however, the French seem to celebrate it as a victory rather than a defeat. So finally we can celebrate after five horrible years as the bastion of awfulness finally fell: oh yes and it was VE day as well. Excitement amongst unionists over the defeat of Naomi Long is tempered by the fact that she was hardly a terrorist cheerleader in chief. Rather much of the pleasure …

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#SluggerSoapbox: An electoral pact may be pointless but it’s all political Unionism has left…

Our support for the DUP in East Belfast should ensure an additional pro-Union MP for the City of Belfast in the next mandate. – Mike Nesbitt I am calling on all unionists to unite behind these agreed candidates and maximise the pro-union voice in the House of Commons. – Peter Robinson What’s the point of the latest electoral pact between the DUP and UUP? If the two party leaders are to be taken at their word then it is to …

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Unionist Pacts: More engagement is required in order to maximise the vote

Mike Nesbitt somewhat overshadowed the UUP Party Conference with his call for a UUP-DUP Pact. At the DUP Party Conference Alderman Gavin Robinson was unveiled as their candidate for East Belfast in the General Election. And Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness attempted to derail the SDLP Party Conference with his call for a ‘pro-agreement’ pact with the SDLP which was rejected. Everyone has their own opinion on the use of political pacts, and within internal political party discourse there is inevitably debate, …

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