“Black” Day For DUP At Dromore By-Election
Thursday, February 14th, 2008
Speaking after the UUP’s candidate, Carol Black, won the by-election to Banbridge Council, Sir Reg Empey commented:
“This really is a “Black” day for the DUP. They had forced a by-election (which has cost local ratepayers thousands of pounds) when they refused to agree with us on co-opting a candidate; and they forced the by-election because they believed that they could see off both the UUP and the TUV. They saw off neither.”
“The DUP can no longer claim to be the majority voice of unionism. In Jeffrey Donaldson’s own backyard their vote plunged from almost 50% to less than 30%.”
“I congratulate Carol on her stunning victory. She is a new voice and a new face in politics and she confounded the critics by proving that a local woman campaigning on local issues can rise above the score-settling tit-for-tat that was the hallmark of the DUP-TUV showdown.”
“I congratulate my party colleagues and supporters who came out in large numbers to bolster Carol’s campaign. I joined them on a number of occasions. They were enthusiastic and confident. They wanted to prove that the Ulster Unionist Party was back on its feet and back in business. This result is a tribute to our collective efforts.”
“I also want to thank the electorate; those who gave their first preference choice to Carol, and those who gave her a preference at a later stage. This result is a considerable improvement on our performance in March 2007: another clear sign that voters are taking us seriously again.”
“Finally, can I say this to the media in general? The UUP was virtually ignored during the election; we were assumed to be incapable of winning a seat. We have proved your predictions and analysis to be inaccurate. The Ulster Unionist Party has weathered the political storm. We are still here and we are back in business.”
After the disgraceful lack of media coverage given to Carol Black specifically and the UUP campaign, I would urge the media not to write off the “original and still the best” brand of unionism around of the 101 year old Ulster Unionist Party. During the one sided media campaign there was no cognisance given of the fact that the DUP never told the people what they were going to do before the last assembly election and castigated us for simply telling the truth. They also told the voting public that you “cannot give guarantees about restoring devolution until you have secured a financial package”, again another broken promise as the recent reality check of very much competing demands in a very finite budget proved. The truth has caught up with the DUP leadership and I am sure as a result of their 20% drop their hawks will be telling them to harden the message and stop the “chuckling” but the reality is that having spent 10 years criticising our every waking move a very significant number of their core support were never conditioned to accept the new power sharing realities.