Alex Easton is appealing for unionist unity because the DUP is losing support

I refer to Sam McBride’s article (‘DUP starts 2022 NI Assembly election campaign early, calling for unionist pact to defeat Northern Ireland Protocol,’ March 8, see link below).

I cannot make up my mind whether the DUP’s Alex Easton is politically illiterate or whether he is deliberately trying to deceive the voters. He calls for an Assembly Election pact which involves an appeal to other Unionist parties “to not run too many candidates, shredding the vote”.

Sorry Alex, we have woken up to the fact that in a PR election it is not possible to split or shred the vote. On the contrary, the more Unionist parties stand in an election, the bigger the overall Unionist vote.

Quite simply, if a voter’s favourite party has no candidate, he or she may simply stay at home and depress the total Unionist vote.

To grow the Unionist vote we need to encourage as many shades of Unionism as possible to come out and vote, and then transfer their votes to other Unionist parties if necessary. That requires a wide choice of Unionist candidates.

It is my clear recollection that the TUV has encouraged its voters to transfer to other Unionist parties if its candidate is eliminated. Alex Easton’s problem is that some voters are so disillusioned with the DUP that they may not want to give it their lower preferences.

If that is the case, then an absence of other Unionist parties on the ballot paper is not in the least bit likely to encourage such people to give the DUP their first preferences.

The DUP is clearly losing support, and Alex Easton’s appeal has more than a whiff of desperation about it.

Dr Paul Kingsley, Belfast BT4

• DUP starts 2022 NI Assembly election campaign early, calling for unionist pact to defeat Northern Ireland Protocol

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor