Quit or face leadership challenge, Trimble warned

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble will face a leadership challenge if he refuses to stand down within days, he was warned tonight.

South Antrim MP David Burnside said he expected someone would challenge Mr Trimble for the leadership after he came within two votes of facing a debate on his leadership among his Northern Ireland Assembly team.

Former Stormont Economy Minister Sir Reg Empey was among those being urged to stand against Mr Trimble in a leadership contest after he voted against the Upper Bann MP.

However, there were still doubts as to whether Sir Reg would take on Mr Trimble in a head-to-head battle for the leadership at the Ulster Unionist Council’s annual general meeting on March 27.

With pressure mounting on Mr Trimble to resign, Mr Burnside told PA News: “There will be a contest at our council’s annual general meeting if David Trimble does not agree to stand down in the interests of the party.”

The Assembly Group has always been a stronghold for Mr Trimble during successive battles with his internal critics since the Good Friday Agreement.

Eleven MLAs voted today to debate a letter querying whether Mr Trimble should remain at the helm.

However, 12 Assembly members including, Mr Trimble, succeeded in preventing the debate.

But with Ulster Unionist peer Lord Kilcloney unable to attend the meeting at Stormont, Mr Trimble’s rivals claimed tonight he had lost the confidence of half his Assembly Group, paving the way for a leadership challenge.

However Mr Trimble remained bullish despite the vote, insisting the Ulster Unionist team had “a good meeting”.

“I will not go into the detail of the meeting,” the Upper Bann MP said.

“I am sorry that some of my other colleagues have done so but I am quite happy with the outcome of the meeting.

“I am quite confident when the vote comes on my leadership, which will take place on March 27, I am extremely confident of its outcome.”

Doubts about Mr Trimble’s future as Ulster Unionist leader have grown since last November’s Assembly Election which saw the UUP overtaken by the rival Democratic Unionists as Northern Ireland’s largest party.

In January, the UUP was also rocked by a series of defections to the Reverend Ian Paisley’s DUP, with three Assembly members switching allegiance.

Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson and his Assembly colleagues Arlene Foster and Norah Beare left the UUP, accusing Mr Trimble and his supporters of conducting a witch-hunt against them after they criticised policy.

The party also experienced defections at a grass roots level from those members disillusioned with Mr Trimble’s continued support for the Good Friday Agreement and the party’s electoral decline.

Under Ulster Unionist rules, Mr Trimble’s leadership is put to the vote every year.

Party sources said tonight the Assembly Group vote has created the space for a challenger to come forward on March 27.

A source said, “Today’s vote was hugely significant.

“Lord Kilcloney has already expressed his doubt about David Trimble’s leadership and had he been there you would have had a 50-50 split in the Assembly Group.

“If you also took David Trimble’s vote for himself out of the equation, you are now saying that a majority of his Assembly colleagues do not have confidence in him.

“He has lost the confidence of half the Assembly party and a third of his Westminster party. What leader could continue in those circumstances?”