Taylor wins reselection battle

Taylor: Reselection was confidence vote in party leadership

Ulster Unionist deputy leader John Taylor has been reselected as the party's parliamentary candidate for Strangford.

Mr Taylor, who has held the Strangford seat in County Down for 17 years, was challenged by a former Ulster Unionist constituency association chairman, Jim Hamilton.

Mr Taylor had maintained he was "looking forward" to any challenge to his candidacy for his parliamentary seat.

Speaking after the result was announced on Monday night he said: "We are the party who are really democratic. We allow candidates to stand against the sitting member.

"Jim Hamilton and myself have campaigned amongst the delegates for the last few months.

"It was a very friendly meeting. I think each of us were asked much the same questions by the same people."

'Confidence in leadership'

He added: "Personally I am happy that I have won, although one is always sorry that someone has to lose. That is politics.

"But I think if I had lost, it would have reflected badly on the whole leadership team of the Ulster Unionist Party.

"And so the message from Strangford is a strong vote of confidence in the leadership of the party."

Mr Hamilton was in favour of the Ulster Unionist Party leadership's pro-agreement policy, but the leadership suffered two parliamentary candidacy defeats to the anti-agreement faction of the party earlier this year.

Anti-agreement Ulster Unionist Weir won North Down candidacy

In June, anti-agreement London-based business man David Burnside defeated Unionist leader David Trimble's chief of staff David Campbell at a selection meeting for the South Antrim Westminster seat.

The party lost the seat - formerly their second safest - to the anti-agreement Democratic Unionist Party in a by-election in September.

In March Peter Weir, one of the UUP's most outspoken critics of the agreement, won the selection battle to be nominated as the party's North Down candidate.

He narrowly beat Lady Sylvia Hermon, wife of former RUC Chief Constable, Sir John Hermon, in the poll.