North may get new political party

THE Conservative Party is in talks with the Ulster Unionists about joining forces to create a new political movement in Northern Ireland.

Tory leader David Cameron revealed that talks have been underway between the parties for the past few months, leading to a decision last week to set up a working group on the creation of the new movement.

The working group is expected to discuss issues like whether a merger should take place or whether the two parties should work together in an alliance, and will report to Mr Cameron and UUP leader Reg Empey in the autumn.

In a joint article in the Daily Telegraph, the two men said they wanted to create conditions to shift the focus of politics in Northern Ireland away from the constitutional and sectarian issues which have dominated the past few decades and onto the bread-and-butter concerns of ordinary people throughout England, like tax, welfare and education.

If agreement is sealed, UUP MPs are expected to take the Tory whip and to be invited to serve as ministers in future Conservative administrations.

Although the UUP presently has only one MP at Westminster — Sylvia Hermon — it is thought likely to improve its showing at the next general election and may hold the balance of power in the case of a hung parliament.

Mr Cameron said: “For the first time in decades the people of Northern Ireland will now have a new choice of politics.

“These discussions with the UUP should mark the beginning of a creation of a new mainstream political movement that could provide leadership nationally but as importantly at every other level.

“Northern Ireland could have a new political force that follows an agenda of prosperity and opportunity and not one focused on division and the problems of the past.

“This new force — whilst supporting devolution — would be the only genuine national movement that stands and is represented in every part of Britain.

“And it will focus on the real issues now affecting the lives of the people of Northern Ireland every day — issues like schools, welfare and strengthening families.”

The Conservatives have historic ties with the Ulster Unionists and share a similar political philosophy, but there have been no formal links between the two parties at Westminster since the 1970s.

It is thought that the talks form part of an effort by Mr Cameron to spread the Conservatives’ appeal beyond the party’s traditional heartlands in England and into the other parts of Britain.

At present, the Tories have only four MPs outside England — three in Wales and one in Scotland.