Northern Ireland

Trevor Ringland rules out standing in North Down

Trevor Ringland
Trevor Ringland Trevor Ringland

FORMER Ireland rugby player Trevor Ringland has ruled himself out of the election battle to succeed Lady Sylvia Hermon as MP for North Down.

The solicitor had been tipped as a possible UUP candidate in the December 12 poll following independent unionist Lady Hermon's decision not to seek re-election.

Her departure has left the Brexit-backing DUP as favourite to take the seat while pro-Remain voices scramble to pick up her sizeable vote share.

Former UUP leader Mike Nesbitt, the party's North Down MLA Alan Chambers and incoming leader Steve Aiken are among those speculated to potentially be the UUP candidate.

The party is expected to announce its decision early next week.

Mr Ringland, who was involved in the One Small Step campaign towards peace-building, yesterday declined to say whether he had been asked by the Ulster Unionists to consider standing in the election.

The 59-year-old said he hoped a candidate would emerge with similar credentials to those of Lady Hermon, and he would be willing to canvas for them if such a person emerged.

Mr Ringland, who stood for election in East Belfast in 2010 as part of the UUP's pact with the Conservatives, said he was "not interested" in being the North Down candidate.

"I am interested though in a candidate emerging that matches what Sylvia was about. Over the years she has been a constructive voice for unionism and hopefully a candidate will be found who can continue that," he said.

Mr Ringland, who is pro-Remain, said "constructive unionism" which is "wanting Northern Ireland to work for everybody" needs to be represented.

"I hope there is a candidate going into North Down who represents that view, and if there is I would certainly be out on the streets canvassing for them," he added.

He said that when he heard Lady Hermon would not be seeking re-election, he thought about how he had intended to contact her some weeks ago.

"I meant to ring her two or three weeks ago and try and talk her into staying for this election. I thought, 'I wish I had made that phone call,' because I think what we needed to do was think about somebody coming in to represent the same views that she expressed over the years," he said.

Lady Hermon first won North Down in 2001 as an Ulster Unionist, but she left the party in 2010 over its electoral pact with the Conservatives.

Like the 52 per cent majority in her constituency, she backed Remain in the 2016 EU referendum.

In 2017 she was returned as the north's only pro-Remain MP to take their seat at Westminster but the DUP cut her majority to just 1,208.

The UUP had stood aside in North Down in the last two Westminster elections but the party's incoming leader Steve Aiken had vowed to field a candidate this time.

Before she announced her retirement, Sinn Féin and the SDLP had announced they would not run candidates in North Down to back Lady Hermon as a pro-Remain candidate.

On Thursday night Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry was announced as his party's candidate.

The Green Party is expected to make a decision on whether to stand in North Down by the weekend.