I WAS extremely disappointed to read in the News Letter about the UUP in Upper Bann’s refusal to work together with fellow unionists to ensure that a unionist MP is returned to Westminster.
That both UUP councillor Arnold Hatch and UUP Upper Bann chairman Keith Baird publicly rejected unionist
co-operation was particularly regrettable and negative given the most recent constituency-wide election results in Upper Bann.
The last constituency-wide election in Upper Bann was the 2011 Assembly election.
The result was SF 11,528; DUP 11,499 and UUP 10,426. If this was repeated at a general election, Upper Bann would end up with John O’Dowd as our MP. This could easily be averted if unionists worked together to ensure that a unionist MP was returned to Westminster in 2015.
At that 2011 Assembly election the UUP very nearly lost their second Assembly seat to SF. This too could be avoided if that spirit of co-operation were then to be replicated at the subsequent Assembly election.
The first necessary step must be for the UUP to not field a vote-splitting candidate at the 2015 General Election, thereby greatly increasing the risk of an abstentionist SF MP in the form of John O’Dowd.
The UUP in Upper Bann needs to see sense and do the right thing.
I McFadden (Mrs)
Lurgan
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