Former UUP councillor Linzi McLaren to run for SDLP in South Antrim

Linzi McLaren, once an Ulster Unionist representative for Ards and North Down, will stand for the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party in the constituency of South Antrim in May 2027.

The former police officer joined the UUP under the leadership of Doug Beattie, who has since left the party and now sits as an independent unionist MLA.

An Instagram post by the SDLP announcing Ms McLaren’s candidacy on Tuesday evening said: “Linzi shares our vision for a new Ireland, with a better Northern Ireland along the way. Let’s go.”

Ms McLaren has been vocal about backlash she’s received from some in the unionist community for engaging in the debate around Irish unity.She said at an SDLP event in July that there are some from a traditionally unionist background who are “so fed up with politics” and are “sitting in the middle waiting for someone to convince them”.

“It is at political unionism’s peril to forget about those people because there are so many of us,” she said.

“Being a Protestant doesn’t automatically make you a Unionist, there are lots of Protestants in that middle ground who would be more than happy to have the conversation about a new Ireland, and actually more than happy to call themselves a nationalist.”