UUP executive in probe

THE chief executive of the Ulster Unionist Party was one of two men questioned about suspected serious offences within the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, it emerged yesterday.

Alastair Patterson and another former electoral office employee were helping police with inquiries into allegations of forgery, false accounting and corruption.

A police spokeswoman confirmed that two men were being questioned about alleged offences within the electoral office between 1996 and 2001.

“Both men are former employees of the electoral office and the investigation centres on activities in the west of Northern Ireland,” she added.

A UUP source confirmed that one of the men was its chief executive, who took up his post earlier this year.

Party officers are meeting today to evaluate the nominations of candidates to consider the cases of Jeffrey Donaldson, David Burnside and the Rev Martin Smyth. The three MPs were suspended last month by the previous disciplinary panel after they resigned the party whip at Westminster in protest at David Trimble’s handling of the peace process.

However, the decision was overturned at Belfast High Court after a judge ruled the suspensions breached the party’s constitution.