Ulster Unionist Party delegates have selected a pro-agreement candidate to contest the Fermanagh and South Tyrone seat in the next Westminster elections. The selection is a victory for the party leadership.
The UUP vice-chairman, Mr James Cooper, narrowly defeated Ms Arlene Foster by 178 votes to 169. A third candidate, Mr Neil Oliver, received two votes in the ballot, which was held in the Unionist Hall, Enniskillen.
Mr Cooper had been the favourite to win the contest. He and Ms Foster work in the same Enniskillen law firm.
Commenting on his victory, Mr Cooper said he was confident of retaining the seat. He said the UUP leadership had to acknowledge the "deep unease" within the party over the implementation of the Belfast Agreement.
He said the UUP must be "tough and resolute" during negotiations over demilitarisation, decommissioning and policing. Ms Foster confirmed she would support Mr Cooper's campaign.
Mr Cooper will replace Mr Ken Maginnis, who announced earlier this month that he intended to stand down at the next election.
Mr Cooper has acted as Mr Maginnis's election agent for 18 years and helped him secure a majority of 13,688 at the last Westminster election.
Ms Foster is a close ally of anti-agreement Ulster Unionist MP Mr Jeffrey Donaldson.
Last weekend the deputy leader of the DUP, Mr Peter Robinson, hinted the DUP candidate, Mr Maurice Morrow, might stand aside if the UUP selects an anti-agreement candidate. The DUP has not fielded a candidate in the constituency since 1979.
A decision by the DUP to run could split the unionist vote and would aid nationalists attempts to regain the seat, lost to the UUP in 1983. In that year Mr Maginnis defeated Mr Owen Carron of Sinn Fein.
Ms Michelle Gildernew has been chosen to contest the seat for Sinn Fein, while the SDLP has yet to hold its selection meeting.
Sinn Fein secured the highest percentage of the vote in the constituency in the 1998 Assembly elections, with 27 per cent. Mr Tommy Gallagher of the SDLP topped the poll.