The Ulster Unionist Party and the Conservatives have moved one step closer towards forming a new alliance to contest elections in the north by establishing a joint committee.
Among the members of the new committee are shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland Owen Paterson and Ulster Unionist peer, Lord Maginnis of Drumglass
The joint committee, which will report back to the parties by the end of January, will bring forward proposals on manifesto commitments, branding of joint candidates and candidate selection procedures.
The parties agreed to establish the committee after endorsing an electoral pact in November. The pact sees the parties combining to fight every Northern constituency in EU and Westminister elections.
The two parties broke from a formal alliance in the aftermath of the Anglo-Irish Agreement signed by Margaret Thatcher and Garret FitzGerald in 1985 which unionists opposed.
The Conservative Party members of the committee are: Owen Paterson MP (shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland), Neil Johnston (Conservatives NI chairman), Jeffrey Peel (Conservatives NI vice chairman) and Paul Megarity (chairman, North Down Conservatives).
The UUP committee members include: Lord Maginnis, Danny Kennedy MLA, David Campbell (UUP chairman) and Cllr. Mark Cosgrove (UUP treasurer)
