The sudden death of Ulster Unionist MP Mr Clifford Forsythe is likely to mean a bitter fight for the UUP nomination to contest a Westminster byelection.
Mr Forsythe (70), who represented South Antrim for 17 years, died in hospital yesterday after suffering a heart attack and brain haemorrhage. Mr Forsythe was on the UUP's anti-agreement wing and won a 16,000 majority in the 1997 British general election. While no UUP member was prepared to declare an interest in the nomination so soon after Mr Forsythe's death, the pro-Agreement south Antrim Assembly member, Mr Duncan Shipley-Dalton, has previously said he would stand if the seat became vacant. Another UUP Assembly member in South Antrim, Mr Jim Wilson, is also on the party's pro-agreement wing. The staunchly anti-agreement UUP member, Mr John Hunter, who lost the nomination to Mr Forsythe in the last election, is another possibility as is the London-based businessman, Mr David Burnside, whose motion linking retention of the RUC's name to the UUP's re-entry into the Executive was accepted by the party last month. The DUP's former Mid-Ulster MP, the Rev Willie McCrea, was recently selected by his party to contest South Antrim in the next election. The DUP did not stand in South Antrim in 1997 and its decision to contest the by-election could well be based on whether the UUP selects a pro or anti-agreement candidate.
Paying tribute to Mr Forsythe yesterday, the UUP leader, Mr David Trimble said: "In his quietly effective way he made many friends for Northern Ireland and for Ulster Unionism. He was an excellent colleague to work with and I will personally miss his friendly manner and good advice."
The former UUP leader, Lord Molyneaux, said: "The unionist people have been deprived of a faithful servant who diligently laboured on their behalf."
The anti-agreement UUP MP, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, said Mr Forsythe was "a real gentleman whose honour and integrity was immediately recognised by all who knew him."
The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said Mr Forsythe and he agreed on the big issues and were able to put the union first and party politics second.
SDLP MLA and former MP Dr Joe Hendron said Mr Forsythe had been "kind and helpful" in showing him around the House of Commons.
The Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, also extended his sympathies.