Jim Wells dramatically quits DUP and backs TUV for Stormont in South Down

The veteran DUP politician told the Nolan Show he is leaving the party that he has been involved with since the end of the 1970s.

He is backing Harold McKee in his South Down constituency, which he has represented for 27 years.

Mr Wells, who has had an increasingly fractious relationship with the DUP in recent years, is not standing for an MLA seat in this coming contest.

“I contacted the five DUP MLAs who have supported me to let them know. The rest have been silent,” he told the Nolan Show.

In a statement, the DUP said the coming election is “much more important than mere personalities” and stressed the importance of the “seat totals after the count” in determining Northern Ireland’s future.

The party nominated Diane Forsythe to replace Mr Wells, who had in recent years had the DUP whip removed at Stormont.

Edwin Poots, who was briefly the leader of the DUP leader, also sought the South Down nomination after he and Ms Forsythe were both interviewed by party officers for the nomination.

Mr Poots is now standing for the DUP in South Belfast.

In a statement issued by the TUV, Mr Wells said: “As I leave the Assembly it is my earnest desire that South Down should continue to have a Unionist MLA whose politics are grounded in conviction and principle. Among the candidates Harold McKee is the stand out candidate with these credentials. He holds dear many of the core principles that I upheld in Stormont and is widely and properly respected as a politician of conviction, not expediency.

“Accordingly, I recommend him to those who faithfully supported me at the polls over the years and urge them to vote McKee 1.”

In the same statement, Harold McKee said he was delighted to Mr Wells’ support.

“Jim has set a high standard for representation in South Down,” he said. “His decades of faithful service secure his honourable place in the history of this constituency. In the end he was abandoned by his own party but it is the mark of the man that he wishes the best for South Down going forward. I am delighted to have his support and gratified that a broad swathe of unionism is uniting behind me as the standard bearer of principled unionism.”

The TUV leader, Jim Allister, said: “At critical times in Stormont Jim Wells was often the only MLA prepared to join me in doing what was right. In December 2020 we were the only MLAs to speak and vote against 45 EU regulations essential to bedding in the iniquitous Protocol. Putting party advantage before principle would have been easy, but Jim did the right thing and likewise today in backing Harold he is putting principle before party.

“In strengthening Harold McKee’s hand he is laying the foundation for the continuance in Stormont of South Down representation based on conviction politics. We’ve seen enough of synthetic unionism; it’s good to offer the real thing with Jim Wells’ backing.”

A DUP spokesman said: “This election is much more important than mere personalities. The seat totals after the count will decide whether Northern Ireland goes in the right or wrong direction and our priorities for the next five years.

“Diane Forsythe secured the DUP’s best ever result in South Down in 2017. She is a young mother, rooted in the Mournes with a plan for South Down. Diane will focus on what matters to people.”