UUP to vote on Maginnis' replacement tonight

The Ulster Unionist party is preparing itself for a potentially divisive debate over who will stand as its candidate in the Fermanagh-South Tyrone seat at the next British general election.

420 members of the UUP's constituency association in Enniskillen will vote tonight on who will replace the party's outgoing MP Ken Maginnis.

The contest is a straight fight between anti-Agreement Arlene Foster, a close ally of Jeffrey Donaldson, and Trimble loyalist, James Cooper, Mr Maginnis' former election agent.

Ironically, both candidates work in the same legal practice in Co Fermanagh.

Mr Cooper said he was confident that the constituency association would continue to endorse Mr Trimble's policies.

However Ms Foster challenged this view, saying that there was frustration amongst rank-and-file UUP members that "unionists are not gaining what they were meant to gain under the Agreement".