It was confirmed last night that Sylvia Hermon, Ulster Unionist MP for North Down, will not be seeking re-election under the joint Tory/UUP banner at the general election.
This does not come as a great surprise, since she has never been known to be a great supporter of the electoral alliance the two parties have forged and has been viewed at Westminster as largely sympathetic to New Labour. She may yet stand in North Down as an Independent.
The UUP has nominated candidates for the other 17 seats in Northern Ireland, as reproduced on the BBC website; now the Conservatives have to finalise their nominees for the province's 18 seats, before the candidate selection process is finalised when the Conservative and Ulster Unionist Joint Committee meets to settle which candidates will stand in which seats.
The process has taken longer than most of us would have wished, but giving the people of Northern Ireland the the opportunity to again vote for candidates who can aspire to serve in a UK government is a noble cause which will have been worth the hard work it has taken from all involved to pull off.
Jonathan Isaby