UUP consider holding early leadership election

Members of the Ulster Unionist Party’s ruling executive will gather in Belfast today to decide whether to hold a swift leadership contest.

The 108 executive will meet at the party’s headquarters in East Belfast to assess the damage following a dramatic slump in the UUP’s votes in the North's General and Local Government elections.

Four members of the party, including former leader David Trimble, lost House of Commons seats last week as Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists triumphed at the polls.

The DUP emerged with nine MPs while the Ulster Unionists were reduced to just one.

North Down MP Lady Sylvia Hermon has been tipped as a possible leadership contender. Other rivals for the post are believed to include former Stormont Economy Minister Reg Empey, South Antrim Assembly member David Burnside and former deputy leader, John Taylor.