TUV only standing aside in one DUP-held seat

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV)/Reform UK will only step aside in one Unionist-held seat in the upcoming election, Jim Allister has said.

Mr Allister said his party will not run in Upper Bann “in the interests of the greater good”.

On Friday, he announced 13 candidates who will run under the TUV/Reform UK banner on 4 July.

The TUV leader has been critical of the DUP’s deal which saw the party return to power-sharing four months ago.

On Thursday, DUP leader Gavin Robinson accepted that the party oversold the deal and said there should have been more “cautious realism” at the time.

Mr Robinson said that despite the deal negotiated with the government in January, the Irish Sea border remained in place.

This was at odds with previous statements made by the former leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who insisted the Irish Sea border had been “effectively” removed as a result of the Safeguarding the Union deal he secured with the government.

Mr Allister has been critical of the move and said only TUV/Reform UK had “credibility” on key constitutional issues.

In 2019, the TUV did not run any candidates in the general election.

On Upper Bann, he said the “compelling reason” not to stand there was “not to assist a Sinn Féin victory”.

But he added that the “relative strength” of the incumbent – Carla Lockhart of the DUP, who opposed her party’s deal on the Irish Sea border – was also a factor in stepping aside.

The party had already announced it would not stand in North Down this time, and on Friday, Mr Allister confirmed that it will not run in Fermanagh and South Tyrone either.

He said an attempt to agree a non-party unionist candidate for the constituency was “vetoed”, but the party would maintain tradition and not contest the seat.

To run or not to run – for the TUV leader this time, it was always going to be the former.

Jim Allister had made clear well before today that he had a ship of candidates raring to go – with some former DUP members now on board.

His strategy could put a dent in several key DUP seats, where the party is facing challenges to hold on.

The TUV leader insists it’s not about handing away unionist seats, but allowing unionists who have felt “betrayed” over post-Brexit arrangements negotiated by the DUP to demonstrate their anger at the ballot box.

The joint ticket of TUV/Reform UK is also new territory for the party, leaning into links with outspoken Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on areas like immigration.

However, it’s not the first time the TUV has changed its title on ballot papers.

In the last assembly election when the party saw its vote share jump, its designation was “TUV no sea border”.

The party’s position on that has only grown louder in the past two years but voters will have the ultimate say come polling day.

In March. the TUV announced a formal partnership with Reform UK – a party based in Great Britain – for the upcoming election, but last week it emerged Reform UK had failed to register in time to allow its candidates to run in Northern Ireland.

The TUV leader said the alignment with Reform UK offered involvement in national politics and wider issues on immigration and environmental policy.

A full list of candidates will be available on the BBC News NI website after nominations close next Friday.