Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness

Despite Elliott's weak negotiating position , it appears that NI Conservatives will not stand in the Assembly elections after all.  The local party's chairman, Irwin Armstrong, has tendered his resignation with immediate effect.  His statement outlines the course of events which led to this action. Conservative Chairman in Northern Ireland tenders resignation over UUP deal Irwin Armstrong Chairman of the Conservatives in Northern Ireland today announced his will submit his resignation to the Northern Ireland Executive, he said ‘It is no longer tenable for me to remain as Chairman after I was informed by our party Co Chairman and N.I. Secretary of State some weeks ago that the Prime Minister had decided we would be running candidates in Northern Ireland in both Assembly and local council elections and I accepted their word, informed my Executive and key activists, and prepared press releases on that basis, I was then asked to wait until the leader of the UUP had been informe...

The NI Conservatives have unveiled a  new website , which is currently being knocked into shape. In the news section you can read about a delegation from Northern Ireland which visited Birmingham last week for the Tory party conference.  Irwin Armstrong (chairman) and Dr Paul Megarity (vice-chairman) engaged in high level discussions about future Conservative involvement in Ulster with party co-chair Andrew Feldman and Secretary of State, Owen Paterson. All parties seem to be agreed that the Conservatives are here for the long-term.  Whether that means standing candidates in the forthcoming Assembly election remains to be seen.  I detect a gathering sense that there is that possibility. In parallel with the local Tories’ deliberations, Tom Elliott has been asked to place his proposals for future involvement between the Conservatives and the UUP before the Prime Minister by the end of the month.  Cameron, for his part, will consider whether his party is pr...

From the moment Ian Junior announced his intention to stand for Westminster in North Antrim the die was cast . The media would inevitably portray the battle for the seat as a two horse race between the man set to inherit the Paisley family’s electoral silver and Jim Allister, former hardline Paisleyite, turned thorn in the DUP’s flesh. There are clear and consistent signs emerging from the constituency, however, that conventional wisdom is about to be turned on its head. Allister’s Traditional Unionist Voice has failed to capture the public imagination in this unionist heartland. And, confounding expectations, the Conservatives and Ulster Unionists electoral pact is performing better than expected. In candid moments TUV canvassers have admitted that their estimates are being substantially revised, downwards. And the Conservatives and Unionists are increasingly confident that they can mount the main challenge to Paisley in North Antrim. Irwin Armstrong , the Conservative party member an...

A year or so ago the DUP was presenting itself as a party of free marketeers and advocating a cut in Corporation Tax. The Conservative and Unionist candidate for North Antrim, Irwin Armstrong, has picked up on a lurch to the left by the Finance Minister, who recently came out against a lower rate for Northern Ireland. Has 'Red Sammy' returned? Previously the Finance Minister sought to present himself as a champion of enterprise and his party claimed to be a business friendly party. Now he is setting himself against a measure which the business community says it needs to drive forward the private sector and create jobs during a difficult economic spell for Northern Ireland. Perhaps he resents the fact that it is Conservatives and Unionists who are actively working towards a tax reduction and, after the general election, could have the tools to deliver it, as part of the government of the United Kingdom. Whereas the DUP will remain impotent at Westminster, without any influen...