Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Brendan Hughes

Ulster Unionist Party to close office in North Belfast

The Ulster Unionist Party is closing its office in North Belfast less than two years after it opened.

It was launched at the end of September 2021 as part of efforts to revive the UUP's electoral fortunes in the constituency.

But the party was unable to regain seats in the area in either the Stormont Assembly election last year or the council poll in May.

Read more: DUP MP hits out at online abuse from 'faceless trolls'

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie had launched the office alongside the party's North Belfast representative Julie-Anne Corr-Johnston.

In a statement a party spokesman said: "The UUP opened the Shore Road office in 2021 to support candidates running in the 2022 Assembly and 2023 council elections and is now in a planned closure since those elections are completed."

The UUP spokesman added that the office had been "paid for out of party funds" over the past two years.

Ms Corr-Johnston, a former PUP councillor, was announced as a new recruit to the Ulster Unionists in June 2021 and was appointed as the party's representative for North Belfast.

She stood for the party in the constituency in the Assembly election last year and in May's council poll in the Castle area, but did not secure enough votes to gain a seat.

The UUP has nine MLAs and 54 councillors, including an MLA in East Belfast and two councillors in the city.

In both recent elections the party's vote share was squeezed across Northern Ireland.

It resulted in the loss of an Assembly seat in East Antrim and 21 councillors, dropping below Alliance to become the fourth-largest party at both Stormont and council level.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.