THE East Belfast MP, Mr Peter Robinson, of the Democratic Unionist Party, says he is "astounded" that the Ulster Unionist Party is putting up Mr Reg Empey in the same constituency in the Westminster election. In his acceptance speech after nomination, Mr Empey said that for years the UUP had placed the wider interests of unionism above party interests, and refrained from fielding a candidate.
"This was the right decision in the circumstances of the time, but things have changed now, and we have decided to fight." This decision had come because the parliamentary boundary commission had made significant changes to the constituency in 1995, bringing in an additional 11,000 voters, mostly unionist. The area had become "more unionist" and an Alliance threat had diminished.