Burnside not put off Rangers bid

David Burnside (left) wants to buy Sir David Murray's stake in the club

Northern Ireland Assembly member David Burnside will embark on a potential Rangers takeover plan after his latest election campaign is over.

But the Ulster Unionist Party politician says his group will only move if Rangers chairman Sir David Murray puts the club up for sale.

When asked if he planned to approach Murray, Burnside said: "David Murray stated what his position was.

"At the moment, I'm very busy with the election on Wednesday."

Murray has stated that, as yet, he knows nothing of the proposed move.

But 55-year-old Rangers supporter Burnside has held preliminary talks with associates in the City of London over forming a consortium to buy out Murray, who took control of the Glasgow club in 1988.

"I want to get the elections out of the way and then I am going to London next week and will spend a bit of time on it then," said the Stormont Assembly member for South Antrim.

I want to get the elections out of the way, and then I am going to London next week and will spend a bit of time on it (takeover talks) David Burnside

The news of the potential takeover bid emerged days before the Stormont election.

But the former public relations director has rejected allegations that the story was a publicity stunt to seek favour with the large Rangers fanbase in the province.

Burnside has already cited the potential of the club's worldwide brand as a prime reason for his interest.

Murray, who took over at Ibrox in 1988, hinted recently that he would step down when a worthy successor emerged.

Burnside began his career as press officer for the now-defunct Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party in the 1970s before moving to London.

He joined British Airways in 1984 but his successful career as the airline's PR chief ended amid the fallout to the so-called "dirty tricks" campaign against Virgin.

BA paid Richard Branson and his company a total of £610,000 in a settlement to a 1993 libel case that also cost the firm about £3m in legal fees.

Burnside formed his own PR firm before returning to Northern Ireland politics, winning the Westminster seat for the UUP in South Antrim in 2001.

He further rose to prominence as a critic of UUP leader David Trimble's approach to the Good Friday Agreement and resigned the party whip in 2003.

However, he decided against joining ally Jeffrey Donaldson in his defection to the Rev Ian Paisley's more hardline Democratic Unionists, before losing his Commons seat to the DUP in 2005.

He remains a member of the Stormont Assembly, which he was elected to in 2003, and defends his seat in South Antrim on Wednesday.