Basil McCrea MLA finally jumps the brush. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Well, at last, Basil McCrea and John McCallister have jumped the brush together and defected to…well, we’re not quite sure yet…but they’ve left the Mad Auntie (AKA the UUP).
Rumour has it that a new local political party is in the offing. A non-sectarian, secular, pro-Union party.
That seems to me to be a good idea. In the context of devolution, and given the foot-shooting antics of the “national” political parties, that seems like a good plan.
I wish John and Basil every success.
Hi Jeff,
What’s happened to the NI Conservatives and their relaunch?
Why are McCrea and McAllister not taking them seriously?
Seems a damning indictment of Irwin Armstrong and his ‘leadership’.
Hello Clare. To be honest the NI Conservatives seem to have sunk without trace. I’d imagine that Basil and John are ignoring them because most of the electorate also ignores them. The Conservatives’ foray with the UUP was an unmitigated disaster. Meanwhile the Tories’ national fortunes have tanked – in the latest YouGov poll they are 10 points or so behind Labour. Locally they’re unlikely to make any headway – and Irwin Armstrong is almost invisible. The fact that he’s not Belfast based doesn’t help. I was no advocate for devolution but in the context of NI I think there is more likelihood of a local Party winning the centre-ground than the national Conservative Party. There was a time it could have made headway but the opportunities were, sadly, squandered. Now it’s a toxic brand locally.