UUP should retain link with Conservatives, says ally of leadership contender

The Ulster Unionist party should maintain some links to the Tories, a key ally of leadership contender Tom Elliot has told the Guardian. The Newry and Armagh UUP assembly member, Danny Kennedy, warned against breaking all ties with the Conservatives, following the two parties' unsuccessful electoral pact at the last general election. Kennedy said the UUP could return to an alliance with the Tories similar to that it kept between 1922 to 1972 when Ulster Unionist MPs took the Conservative whip at Westminster. His remarks are in sharp contrast to the position of his leadership rival Basil McCrea, who at his campaign launch last week vowed to sever the connection with the Tories. McCrea and his supporters argue that the Conservative-Ulster Unionist New Force alliance cost the UUP seats and votes in the last general election. The UUP lost its only sitting MP, Lady (Sylvia) Hermon, who refused to stand under the joint Tory banner and was re-elected to North Down as an independent with a massive majority. Left-leaning Ulster Unionists such as Chris McGimpsey have criticised the Tory link-up, contending that it is seen by working-class unionists as a betrayal. But Kennedy cautioned against cutting all ties with the Conservatives, despite fears that an ongoing alliance would become even more unpopular as the British government imposed massive public sector cuts on Northern Ireland. "A new arrangement would not be as tight as the UNCUF [Tory-UUP] project and would only relate to Westminster. When it comes to assembly elections I believe the UUP should fight on its own, as a party without anyone else. "But it's better at a national level that we maintain such influence on national power. The pro-union people in Northern Ireland would be conservative with a small 'c' and would see any link-up at Westminster as part of the British link. It should return to the way it was between 1922 and 1972 when our MPs took the Tory whip in the Commons," he said. He also predicted that Elliot, the assembly member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, would win the leadership contest at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting in Belfast's Waterfront Hall on 22 September. Elliot remains the bookies' favourite to lead the UUP despite a strong campaign launch by McCrea last Monday. While McCrea has support among the party's liberal wing, Elliot has more appeal within the rural, conservative Ulster Unionist base. The latter group is more inclined to back some kind of electoral pact with the Democratic Unionists over fears that a split within unionism could make Sinn Féin the largest party in the assembly, giving republicans the chance to take the first minister's post for the first time in May. Kennedy denied rumours that he was quitting politics. He pointed out that he was the sole nominee to defend the UUP's seat in Newry and Armagh in next year's assembly elections. Whoever takes over the UUP at the end of this month faces a mammoth task given the party's recent electoral performances. As well as having no MPs at Westminster the UUP is the third largest party in Stormont – far behind both the DUP and Sinn Féin. Prior to the Good Friday agreement 12 years ago, the UUP was the largest political force in Northern Ireland.