THE DUP has nominated a local councillor to replace Iris Robinson as Assembly member for Strangford.
Jonathan Bell, a senior social worker based in Newtownards, Co Down, will take Mrs Robinson’s seat at Stormont. No byelection is necessary under Assembly rules.
Her Westminster seat will remain vacant until the next Westminster election due before June.
She resigned from Stormont, Westminster and Castlereagh Council following the controversy over her affair with a teenager and her financial dealings which are under scrutiny by the PSNI.
DUP leader Peter Robinson said: “Jonathan is a well-known local councillor in Ards and he will play a valuable role within the DUP team in the Assembly.
“He has worked as a social worker for many years and will bring abilities and experience from both his elected and professional life.”
It has emerged that Mrs Robinson lobbied for three planning applications on behalf of the two property developers who each provided £25,000 to help set up Mrs Robinson’s former lover Kirk McCambley in a cafe business in south Belfast.
The contract to run the Lock Keeper’s Inn on the banks of the Lagan was awarded to Mr McCambley after Castlereagh Council decided he was the only applicant who met their criteria.
Following her break-up with Mr McCambley after a brief affair, she demanded that he repay the cash which he had used to buy furniture and kitchen equipment to the two developers.
Environment Minister Edwin Poots has confirmed that she spoke on behalf of two applications from Ken Campbell and one from Fred Fraser in the past six years. Mr Fraser is now deceased and Mr Campbell has since confirmed he donated between £4,000 and £5,000 to the DUP some time ago. The applications listed by Mr Poots were for sites in Comber and Newtownards, Co Down.
The information was made available in response to questions from North Antrim Sinn Féin Assembly member Daithí McKay.
Mr Poots said his response to Mr McKay’s questions was not definitive, as a company search and manual trawl of the records would cost a “disproportionate” amount. Mr Robinson said his wife was continuing to receive acute psychiatric residential treatment.