Jamie Bryson hints at Stormont election bid in fiercely contested constituency - telling DUP 'all options remain on the table'
The man behind the legal bid which resurrected the Drumcree dispute says he won’t rule out a bid for an Assembly seat in Upper Bann, where the DUP has just lost its member of parliament.
Jamie Bryson was a legal advisor to the Orange Order’s Portadown District, securing an unprecedented legal victory over the Parades Commission followed by authorisation for the first Orange parade along the Garvaghy Road in 28 years.
However, the march never went ahead after the road was blocked by protestors – including the First Minister and other nationalist politicians.
Throughout the standoff, Mr Bryson was at the side of the local MP Carla Lockhart and TUV leader Jim Allister on platforms and at rallies backing the Orangemen.
There has been speculation in unionist circles about whether he intends to use his increased profile to make a bid for an Assembly seat in the constituency.
Any election attempt appears to have been bolstered by a Lucid Talk poll in the Belfast Telegraph this week, which put Mr Bryson as more popular with unionists than the DUP leader Gavin Robinson.
It also put Carla Lockhart, who quit the DUP over its failure to accept her demand to remove Michelle O’Neill from office, as the most popular unionist leader – just ahead of the Ulster Unionist boss Jon Burrows.
Asked by the News Letter if he is considering running for election in Upper Bann, or indeed in any other constituency, Mr Bryson said: “I would rule nothing in or out”.
The loyalist activist added: “To borrow a phrase from the DUP when they want to sit in the middle of the road and avoid giving a meaningful answer: all options remain on the table”.
There are currently three unionist MLAs in the constituency, two DUP and Doug Beattie, who was elected as an Ulster Unionist but now sits as an independent. He will run again, as will his former party who have selected Kyle Savage.
The DUP will run party stalwart and former minister Diane Dodds, as well as Jonathan Buckley – who some in the party establishment see as a potential future leader.
The TUV has yet to select a candidate, but that process is underway. It appears unlikely that if Mr Bryson were to run – he would stand for Jim Allister’s party.
The Drumcree dispute has laid bare divisions in unionism on a range of issues, including the future of the Stormont institutions and how it should respond to the actions of First Minister Michelle O’Neill on the Garvaghy Road.
The Sinn Féin politician, as well as a number of party colleagues, have attended police interviews over their involvement in a protest which blocked the road, and resulted in police deciding they could not facilitate the parade.
Ulster Unionist leader Jon Burrows has called for robust action against Sinn Féin over the protest – but opposes collapsing the Executive over the matter.
TUV boss Jim Allister has said Ms O’Neill must be removed from office, and accused the DUP of choosing the Sinn Féin leader over Carla Lockhart.
The DUP’s approach has been to block Michelle O’Neill from attending events as First Minister, by withdrawing Emma Little-Pengelly. Events the first ministers were dure to attend which have been cancelled by the party have included a UK economic forum and a Remembrance event.
That approach was rejected by the party’s former Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart, who quit to sit as an independent on Monday.
Speaking to the BBC’s Nolan Show this week, she was quizzed on what support she had for her stance when she was in the DUP, Ms Lockhart said that she would not divulge private conversations with her former colleagues – but gave her theory on why no other prominent figures had quit alongside her.
“They're within the party structure. They want, and and they've said very clearly, that they're in the situation where their profound consequences is the no photos and the no events.
“But that's for them to decide, and it's for them to decide what route they want to take”, she said.
Ms Lockhart scored highest among the unionist leaders put forward in the Lucid Talk poll – 21 points higher than Gavin Robinson on 68%, compared to 48%, among unionist voters. Jamie Bryson came in 8 points ahead of the DUP leader on 55%, with Jim Allister on 60% and Jon Burrows second most popular, on 66%.