Europe race top of meeting agenda

The joint committee has backed Jim Nicholson election campaign

The first meeting of the Conservative Party and the Ulster Unionist Party joint committee was held on Thursday.

Three members of the UUP attended the meeting along with five Conservative Party members.

Jim Nicholson's European election campaign was discussed. Meeting chair, David Campbell, said he would be given "all the resources he needs".

"The DUP seems unable to choose a candidate for Europe whereas we've hit the ground running," he said.

"Jim Nicholson is a highly respected European MEP - and a senior member of the Conservative Group in Europe.

"Therefore our focus now is to support Jim and his campaign team," said Mr Campbell.

Neil Johnston, Conservative chairman in NI, said a lot had been achieved in the meeting.

"The core team working on Jim Nicholson's campaign is now in place and we have direct liaison with the campaign team at central office," he said.