DUP leadership election set for next week

The Democratic Unionist Party will elect a new leader next week, it emerged tonight.

A successor to Ian Paisley will be chosen in a two-phase process.

Members of the DUP Assembly Group will vote for the new leader first at their weekly meeting at Stormont on Monday.

Their recommendation for leader will then have to be ratified at a meeting of the party's executive on Thursday next week.

Finance Minister and party deputy leader Peter Robinson is the runaway favourite to become the leader, with party sources believing he will be unopposed.