New First Minister will be chosen by party and not Edwin Poots on his own reveals Sammy Wilson

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster Evening Extra, Mr. Wilson said before votes were cast both Edwin Poots and Sir. Jeffrey Donaldson had agreed to work with a specific group of people within the party to select a new First Minister.

"As far as I know both Edwin and Jeffrey were committed to ensuring that when we chose a First Minister that it would not simply be the personal patronage of whoever became leader and it would be a party decision.

"Sometimes a corporate decision can be much better than the decision of an individual - I am fairly sure there will be a wider discussion as to who should take on the role of First Minister," he added.

Mr. Poots has said numerous times that if selected as the new leader he would not seek to be First Minister.

Mr. Poots, who is the current Agriculture Minister, was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and returned to Stormont three weeks after undergoing surgery at the end of February.

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