Letter: North Down unionists need to find and endorse a unity candidate for next General Election

The political landscape of London is in chaos and the clock is ticking towards the next Parliamentary election.

With this in mind, and if we are serious about restoring a unionist voice for North Down at Westminster, then it's vital that unionists in this constituency, irrespective of party affiliations or lack thereof, come together to find and endorse a unity candidate.

Whilst the unionist community within North Down is a diverse one, we are equally passionate about ensuring that our unionist principles are properly represented in Parliament.

We cannot deny that a divided unionist vote would only serve to aid Stephen Farry's re-election chances. The Alliance Party are no friends of the Union and this underscores the necessity for a unionist unity candidate.

When I talk of unity I don't mean uniformity, nor a single unionist party. Rather, this is about endorsing a candidate who embodies our core unionist beliefs, such as preserving our relationship with the UK, promoting our shared cultural heritage, and prioritizing our community's economic well-being.

Our collective objective should be to identify someone who thoroughly shares these principles and possesses the capacity to voice them effectively at Westminster. Achieving this requires inclusive and energetic discussions among all local unionists. This dialogue should be public as much as possible, engaging all unionists in the process of determining the ideal representative.

This presents an opportunity to stimulate unionist energy in North Down by involving local unionists from across the constituency.

If such a unionist unity candidate could be found, they would not embody a single unionist viewpoint. Instead, they will represent the collective aspirations of all North Down unionists.

It's essential to remember that our strength as unionists derives not only from our numbers but also our shared vision. We must unite, not as political party or even a political movement, but as a single community around our central unionist tenants and work to identify someone who can ensure a strong North Down unionist voice is heard once more in London.

This is not a easy task and for this to be a successful endeavour unionists must put the Union first, not the differences that may exist between us on other issues. If we can do that, then the very real prize of a unionist MP awaits us.

Tom Smith, former independent unionist councillor, Donaghadee