Ian Parsley – not to be confused with Dr Paisley – is battling under the Ulster Unionists and Tories banner of UCUNF (Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force) to try to unseat Lady (Sylvia) Hermon in North Down , now that she has abandoned the Ulster Unionists to stand as an independent unionist. Parsley, a defector from Alliance to the Northern Ireland British Conservatives, which hooked up with the Ulster Unionists (it does get complicated, doesn’t it?), has told Bangor young unionists that Lady Hermon (pictured) represents the “worst of both worlds” for the constituency.
Backing her will mean “five more years of Gordon Brown with North Down’s interests on the sidelines”, he argued, while backing him would put the constituency at the heart of a David Cameron-led British government.
Parsley, as one wag said, could win the “dyslexic DUP vote” but he will have his work cut out to threaten Lady Hermon, no matter what unionist banner she stands by. This was demonstrated by a recent unionist caller to the BBC. “If she was standing for al-Qaeda I’d vote for her,” said this Hermon loyalist.