The wife of Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble today confirmed she would try to unseat rival Democratic Unionist MP Mr Jeffrey Donaldson at the next General Election.
Mrs Daphne Trimble said she would seek her party's nomination to contest Mr Donaldson's Lagan Valley constituency.
She said she had no fear about following her husband into Northern Ireland's bruising political arena.
"I do not think the DUP speaks for the people of Lagan Valley," she said. "It is traditionally an Ulster Unionist seat and the people have always been represented by Ulster Unionists.
"Jeffrey's vote has always been an Ulster Unionist vote. It was Ulster Unionist voters who elected him and I think they deserve to have a representative at Westminster."
Mr Donaldson defected from the Ulster Unionists in January to the Reverend Ian Paisley's DUP after years of feuding with Mr Trimble over party policy.
In the 2001 General Election, Mr Donaldson secured 25,966 votes as an Ulster Unionist candidate, which was the best performance of any MP in Northern Ireland.
He had a majority of 18,342 over the cross-community Alliance Party's Seamus Close and attracted more than 56.5 per cent of the poll.
PA