Donaldson challenged to resign Westminster seat

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble has challenged Jeffrey Donaldson to resign his Westminster seat and face the electorate following his defection to the DUP.

Mr Trimble said it was up to Mr Donaldson to decide whether he would do the honourable thing by resigning his House of Commons seat and face the voters as a Democratic Unionist.

"We were inundated with phone calls this week by people very angry that the votes they had cast in November's Assembly elections for the Ulster Unionist Party had now wandered off into another party," the Upper Bann MP said.

"They feel they have been let down. They feel deceived. I think this is most unfortunate that people were not more honest with the electorate."

Mr Donaldson's decision to join Dr Paisley's party follows months of heated debate with Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble over UUP strategy and the party's stance in relation to the Good Friday Agreement.

In June 2003, the Lagan Valley MP, alongside former colleagues David Burnside and the Rev Martin Smyth, resigned the party whip claiming Mr Trimble failed to endorse his policy on the joint British-Irish declaration.

They claimed Unionism, led by Mr Trimble, had been "represented at the negotiating table in a weak and dysfunctional state".

Two other successfully elected UUP canidates Norah Beare and Arelene Foster also joined the DUP.

(MB)