Unionist derides DUP 'lonely hearts advert'
A senior Ulster Unionist tonight claimed two former Assembly colleagues had failed to persuade others in the party to join them in defecting to the rival DUP.
Former Stormont Culture Minister Michael McGimpsey ridiculed pleas from Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson and Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Arlene Foster for others to join them, claiming it read like a “lonely hearts advert.”
Mr McGimspey said: “The reality is that they couldn’t accept the majority decision making bodies within the party and after repeated attempts and repeated failures to change the UUP policy agenda they left the party, hoping that others would follow their lead.
“Looking over their shoulders they found that almost nobody followed them.
“Nobody will deny that there have been a few defectors to the DUP but nowhere near the numbers that Jeffrey and Arlene’s egos had imagined.
“In fact our own evidence points to a healthy growth in UUP membership across the province and in Lagan Valley alone we had almost 70 new members join since Mr Donaldson’s departure.”
Mr Donaldson, Mrs Foster and Lagan Valley MLA Norah Beare joined Ian Paisley’s DUP in January after months of in-fighting with supporters of Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble.
The three defectors also cited the party’s failure to remain Northern Ireland’s biggest party in November’s Assembly Election as proof that the UUP had lost its way under David Trimble’s leadership.
Not only did the DUP emerge Northern Ireland’s biggest party and the largest unionist party but the Ulster Unionists also fell behind Sinn Féin in the popular vote.
In a speech in Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh on Monday, Mr Donaldson called on those who continued to oppose Mr Trimble to admit they had fought a good fight but would be more effective in the DUP.
Last Saturday, David Trimble survived another challenge to his leadership at the meeting of the Ulster Unionists’ ruling council in Belfast.
The Upper Bann MP secured almost 60% of the council’s backing for his leadership.
His challengers, Coleraine marketing and managing consultant David Hoey and Portadown businessman, Robert Oliver received 21.6% and 17.6% respectively.
Mr McGimpsey said tonight the “prominent and divisive voice” of Arlene Foster and Jeffrey Donaldson in the DUP had been “neutered to an insignificant squeak as they settle into the authoritarian control freakery-led politics that typifies the DUP.”
The South Belfast Assembly member continued: “There is a certain tragedy in two former Ulster Unionists calling for UUP members to join the DUP.
“Their cry for help would almost make you want to reach for your handkerchief. They miss their old friends, bless them.
“But the DUP is their party and they can cry if they want to.”
