Arlene Foster and ex-UUP chairman denounce incoming leader Steve Aiken over pact

In an interview with the News Letter on Saturday, incoming UUP leader Steve Aiken was categorical that the party will not stand aside in any Westminster constituency – a decision which will make it more difficult for Nigel Dodds to retain his Westminster seat in the looming general election.

The former commander of a Royal Navy nuclear submarine said that his party will stand in all 18 Westminster constituencies, unlike the situation in the last two general elections.

Responding to the South Antrim MLA’s comments, Mrs Foster said that the UUP leader was “prepared to put in jeopardy seats and allow them to go to Sinn Fein”.

The DUP leader told the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme that if the UUP did not stand aside in North Belfast there was “a possibility” that Mr Dodds, her deputy leader and one of the DUP’s most capable figures, would lose his seat.

Meanwhile, David Campbell (see link below), who was UUP chairman from 2005 until 2012, said that “the election of Steve Aiken as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party will represent the political equivalent of calling in the receivers to the party if his recent policy announcements are followed”.

Mr Campbell quit the UUP two years ago and is now the chairman of the Loyalist Communities Council which brings together loyalist paramilitaries in an attempt to move them away from criminality.

In a letter to the News Letter, Mr Campbell, who is a long-standing advocate of unionist unity, denounced the incoming UUP leader’s comments: “For Mr Aiken to declare that the UUP will stand in every seat is in actual fact a declaration of war against fellow unionists and a huge boost for Sinn Fein.”

He added: “Mr Aiken needs to reflect on his comments, consult with wiser heads within the UUP, and react to the wishes of the voter if he hopes to retain any relevance in unionist politics.”

At the DUP conference on Saturday, there was a hostile response to Mr Aiken’s comments. Some party members believed that the UUP leader will be forced into a climbdown which would be humiliating, given that he has not yet formally succeeded Robin Swann as leader and will not do so until next Saturday.

Other DUP members believed that their party was now so strong that it did not need the UUP and so his decision was irrelevant.

Speaking to the News Letter ahead of the DUP conference, Mr Aiken was scathing about the UUP’s far larger unionist rival, particularly in relation to its record at Stormont and the mess of the Brexit negotiations.

He made clear that he sees the UUP differentiating itself from the DUP under his leadership.

The UUP and DUP have had an electoral pact for the last two Westminster elections.

The DUP is most vulnerable in North Belfast. In 2017, even with the UUP standing aside, Sinn Fein was just 2,081 votes behind the DUP deputy leader.

The last time when the UUP stood in the constituency was two years ago when in the Assembly election Robert Foster, a low-profile candidate, polled 2,418 votes.

Yesterday Mrs Foster told the BBC: “I think he is the one that needs to reflect one what exactly he is trying to do. It’s telling, it’s very telling that his first interview says there won’t be any electoral pacts.

“I presume that means in North Belfast, where there is a possibility that Sinn Fein will take the seat. I presume that means Fermanagh and South Tyrone, where if there is not a pact, that seat will go back again to Michelle Gildernew.

“So here we have a man who claims to be a unionist leader, who thinks it’s okay to hand seats back to Sinn Fein.”

• David Campbell: UUP standing in all seats is declaration of war on unionism