David Cameron’s electoral project in the North was under renewed pressure tonight after the Conservative Party failed to come good on a pledge to run in every constituency in the region.

A proposed marriage between the Ulster Unionist Party and the British Conservatives appears to be in some disarray following a row over sectarianism and the name of the new coalition.

A senior Ulster Unionist was tonight replaced as chief whip amid claims from the DUP he was sacked after clashing with his party’s would-be partners – the UK's Conservative Party.

Another Ulster Unionist has defected to the UK's Conservatives, it emerged tonight.