Ex Soldier Is New UUP Leader

Tom Elliott has been elected as the new leader of the Ulster Unionist Party.

He takes over from Reg Empey at a time when its support is at one of the lowest levels in its 70-year history.

It has steadily lost ground to the DUP in the past decade.

In 1997, under David Trimble, the UUP had 10 Westminster seats. Now it has none.

It has just 17 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly, compared to the DUP's 36.

Mr Elliott is an Assemblyman for the Fermanagh-South Tyrone area, and his support base is primarily among rural and conservative voters.

He is a dedicated member of the Orange Order and served for 18 years in the UDR and Royal Irish Regiment.

He would be regarded as right of centre and traditionalist - pledging during his leadership campaign that he would never attend a GAA match or a gay rights march if elected as leader. I

n a radio interview before last week's All Ireland Football final between Cork and Down, he could not bring himself to say he would support Down winning.

And within hours of his election as leader, he was facing his first resignation from the party over the issue of his stance on the GAA.

Former Ireland rugby international and UUP member Trevor Ringland said he would leave the party if Mr Elliott didn't agree to attend a GAA match.

"I would guarantee him that if there is an Ulster team in the all-Ireland final next year I will get him two tickets for that final," Mr Ringland said.

"I want to hear him say in the next few days that if I get him those tickets he will go to that match.

"Because I see people who are reaching out to the unionist community, reaching out to try to build a shared society here and they need encouragement as well.

"They need to see and hear a unionism that actually wants to have a relationship with them."

Mr Elliott later offered to meet Mr Ringland to discuss the matter, and tried to play down the issue.

"My position is that I have never gone to a GAA match and I have no immediate intention of doing so," he said, calling it "tokenism".

But he added that he was not anti-GAA and that he had worked with the organisation in his local area.